Keep The Light
by redheadclover
Summary: Things are shifting for Neyli and Poe Dameron. With her Uncle Luke still missing, Neyli and the remaining Resistance are still on the run from The First Order and her twin brother: Kylo Ren. Neyli feels a pull towards her twin, and she must make a choice: Can she save him once and for all, or defeat him? Sequel to Find the Light (POE x OC) set during The Last Jedi. SPOLIERS!
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note** : Since the new movie came out, I want to make a part two of the Poe and Neyli saga I know I wrote the last one like two years ago and it would be bizarre for me to try and add on to what I left off, so I can at least give a brief synopsis to what happened before we left off and then jump in. I hope I don't confuse too many people.

So, if you read the previous story, I'm gonna move on from where Neyli found out about Han and then taking to her mother about what happened. After that, I figured that I would jump onto the new storyline.

 **SPOILER ALERT:** if you have not seen the movie, BE WARNED! this goes with the movie!

* * *

 **Prologue**

Things were changing in the galaxy. I could feel it every time I took a breath.

For one, Ben was still with the First Order as Kylo Ran.

After I saw him in the forest, after the death of our father, I felt a stronger pull towards him than I ever did before. That pull for me to find him, to talk to him about all that happened between us and to him, it gave me pain that would be too much to bear at times. I couldn't sense him, at least in my mind I could sense him, and it felt like home. But not when it was Kylo…when it was Ben.

Ben was the one I missed, not Kylo.

My mother, General Organa, was still running the Resistance and was running it at full force. I was still under her command as one of the Captains, helping out both within the control room and in my X-Wing, Since my recent close calls and almost near death experiences, I compromised with my mother and made sure I was doing more work behind the console in the command center. It was fine by me since I didn't want to be one to place my mother's heart in more pain. I knew she was still grieving over the loss of my father, her husband, and someone she knew her more than she knew herself. I was the only family she really had left, and I knew it was going to be a real fight for her to give me some kind of freedom and release. It made me think of the other important person in my life.

Poe Dameron.

He was still the Captain, yet now he was far more aggressive in bringing own the First Order than before because of all that he saw and endured in the past. He now knew who Kylo Ran was, and he knew that we were still linked together. He feared it, I knew it did. Poe didn't show it since he was still flying his X-Wing on missions, but something deep within him was afraid that he would lose me to the Dark Side. It wasn't that he didn't have enough faith in the light that was within me, but he knew too that anything could happen and change. Anything can shift from one side to another, so now he was afraid that the same will be with me.

Everyone was walking on eggshells around me. I hated it.

The one that I didn't need it from the most was Poe. I knew he had more on his plate: Finn was still in his coma and he took him with us from our old base onto one of our cruisers. Poe was waiting for him to wake up soon, not only you see him but to tell him about Rey and her mission to find my Uncle, Luke Skywalker. Since a map was discovered, there was a huge buzz of energy that was flooding the Resistance fighters that Luke might still be alive and could help us with the fight against the first Order.

Thinking about my Uncle Luke made me remember when I would train with him back in my younger years with Ben. His kind eyes, bright and blue like the morning sky, and his way of teaching me to be a good Jedi. He was a good teacher, calm and assertive. It only made what happened to Ben and me more confusing and more chaotic within my own mind. Where was he?

Where was my Uncle?

* * *

 **Resistance Cruiser**

 **Outside Planet D'Qar**

"Come on, come on," I was thinking to myself as I was tapping the console where I was, seeing that there were more people stationed back on the planet D'Qar. We were evacuating the planet, our base being targeted by the First Order since they discovered where we were and where we were hiding. Rey was already off finding my Uncle Luke, which left us in a tight pickle with the First Order. Up until that moment, we were minutes away from big invaded and having ever more of a slim chance of survival.

I was on the main cruiser above the planet, my mother included in the main control area with the other officers. I was in charge of the pilots in their X-Wings, along with some of the other vessels that were carrying bombs within their bellies. We had a plan: a dangerous and almost too risky of a plan that involved destroying one or more of these vessels to buy us more time. After we would do that, we would jump into hyperspace in hopes of getting them off our tracks.

But of course, the one pilot involved in the plan was Poe.

"This isn't looking good," I muttered to myself as I was waiting for more of our evacuating ships to get more of our fighters off the planet. I hesitantly looked over to my mother, our General, to see her reaction. She too was trying to keep it together with her beautiful and yet fierce look, watching her own monitor. I could tell from the recent events, she was trying to hide some of her pain. Yet the lines and the damage was there under her skin, more or less.

Suddenly, some beeping went off, having me look back to my monitor. Massive First Order ships appeared from the hyperjump, having me breathe out slowly and push my monitor.

"Be ready. The First Order has arrived. Stay calm and remember our plan," I explained to my communicator to the pilots. My mother looked over at me, studying me in how I was slightly hunched over and watching the screen with every move it was making. I knew those ships had the huge guns that could take out our base down on the planet within seconds. Instantly I turned on the one communicator I knew I wanted to stay connected to with this whole fight out.

A chirp was on one end, having me grin now hearing what the chirping was all about. It came from Poe's trusted droid: BB-8

"Happy beeps, buddy. Come on," Poe's voice was crisp and clear within my communicator, smooth and calm as always like he knew what he was doing, "We've pulled crazier stuff than this."

"Just for the record, Commander Dameron, I'm with the droid on this one," My mother explained to him from her spot on my left.

"Thank you for your support, General," Poe sighed, "Happy beeps."

"Commander," I said finally, having me try to think of the proper word to talk with him since others would hear, "Keep to the plan and stay calm. We don't need anything to go wrong."

"Would I do anything else, Captain?" He asked me, hearing the authority in my voice. I wondered if he was smirking and thinking that I was joking with him. My mother finally looked at me full on.

"Did he just ask that question?" He asked me, having me roll my eyes not in humor but in that whole stress of the situation. My droid, Q2, always next to me decided to beep as well. Rolling my eyes at my droid, I saw my droid peer up at me.

"He's fine with Poe. No need to short circuit in worry." I reassured my droid, who grumbled a few beeps back in return.

"Attention. This if Commander Poe Dameron of the Republic Fleet, I have an urgent communicate for General Hux," He said within my communicator. I was waiting for the bait that they could take from Poe, hoping that it would work. It made me tap my foot over and over on the floor. and wish the I was there in the X-Wing too. It was one thing to be helping out safe in a cruiser that had shields, but it was another to be in a X-Wing and have some kind of power and control.

"This is General Hux from the First Order. The Republic is no more, your fleet are rebel scum and war criminals. Tell your precious princess there will be no terms, there will be no surrender." Just hearing the General from the First Order was enough to give me a small shiver down my spine and have me worry that something will really go wrong.

"Hi, I'm holding for General Hux?" Poe responded, having me cock my eyebrow.

"This is Hux. You and your friends are doomed. We will wipe your filth from the galaxy!" Hux sneered now, almost sounding like his anger was getting the best of himself. I cringed a bit now, hearing nothing again from Poe's side. I felt a twinge of panic.

"Okay, I'll hold." I made a fist against the console from getting a hint at what Poe was doing.

"Is he out of his mind?" I asked under my breath.

"Neyli, what's the hold-up?" Janco said from his communicator in his X-Wing, "What's going on with Poe?"

"Poe's playing coy, much to my dismay." I muttered back to him through his communicator, "Stay alert, Janco."

"Hello?" Hux asked then,

"This is Poe, yep. Still here."

"Can you…can he hear me?" Hux must have been asking someone else within his room.

"Hux…With an H? Skinny guy….kind of pasty?" Poe asked, almost sarcastic. I groaned, rubbing my hand against my face.

"Can it Poe," I warned him into my communicator.

"We can hear you, can you hear me?" Hux asked now in irritation.

"Look I can't hold forever. If you reach him, tell him Leia has an urgent message for him….about his mother." Poe finished off, having me hear his communicator go off and I looked up at the screen, knowing then that the plan was about to commence.

Poe took off like a bat out of hell, having me watch his mark on the screen go close and fast to the three larger marks that belonged to the First Order, making me lick my lips and see him go about his plan: taking out the surface guns.

"Poe's going with the plan," I explained to Janco on his communicator.

"I'll watch him," he replied back to me as Poe spoke up again.

"Okay I'm taking out the cannons now," Poe illustrated for us, "Bombers, go start your approach."

"Rodger that," Another pilot resounded.

"Keep it tight," I reminded him, "We have a mission."

"Don't have to tell me twice," He resounded smoothly back to me as I could hear him firing still in the background. I could see him glide and roll through the ships without a scratch on him, taking out each surface cannon one by one and doing it with ease. So far he was in the clear, and I wanted him to keep it that way.

"One cannon left," He explained as he was still flying through, "Here they come." I saw TIE fighter float up from the ships, coming after Poe quickly and I knew that was the second wave of our plan. BB-8 was beeping frantically at Poe.

"Yeah, yeah I see them!" He replied to the droid, "Oh no on no! BB-8 my weapon systems are down! We gotta take out the last cannon or our bombe are toast! Work your magic buddy." He instructed his droid as I tapped into his communicator one again.

"Poe, Jancon is on standby to help—" I started, but he interrupted me.

"No, I can do this, Captain. Let me finished this," I tried so hard to bit down my own tongue and not give into yelling at him in front of my mother and having others to hear it too. But before I could rebuttal with him, I heard another command over our intercom.

"The last transport is in the air. The evacuation is complete."

"You did it, Poe," My mother said with a sigh of relief, "Now get your squad back here so we can get out of this place."

"No, General we can do this! We have a chance to take out a dreadnought!" Poe practically pleaded over his intercom. I caudal hear more fighting over the sounds and another TIE fighter being destroyed as it was trying to follow Poe, "These things are free killers, we can't let them get away!"

"Disengage now, Commander. That is an order!" My mother sternly commanded him, having me see the look of agitation on her face. This was not the time for Poe to defy her, it really wasn't since we were trying to stay alive and not get killed from one false move. The next thing I knew he turned his communicator off, having me see my mother sigh and look over to C3PO, who was next to him,"Wipe that nervous expression off your face,"

I looked back the screen, seeing Poe still move smoothly across the top of the ship and I was hoping that I wasn't going to see his dot go off the screen. I waited for what seemed like minutes when it was in fact seconds, finally seeing him move out of the way of the ship. I sighed in relief: he took out all of the cannons.

"Bombers keep that tight formation. Fighters, protect the bombers. It's not every day we get a shot at a dreadnought, so let's make it count." one of the pilots commanded in the intercom. The next wave was to bring the bombs over to take out the ships and slow them down. The X-Wings were going to take out ay TIE fighters that would try to stop the bombers from doing their job, which was another reason that I wished I was out there. I missed being in combat, more than I could admit.

"Copy that, blue leader. We'll give it to them."

"Remember: Get those bombers into a formation and over the target. Any means necessary," I explained in my intercom.

"Rodger Captain!" I heard several responses on their end.

"Fighters, incoming."

More TIE fighters were making their way to our pilots, having me shift from one foot to another. This was among me nervous, very nervous as I couldn't help but with as one by one our bombers were falling and being destroyed. It was all in slow motion, the one plan that we had was now dissolving right in front of our eyes. I was already feeling the small wave of defeat coming over me. We were losing this battle and it felt like hope was not going to be on our side this time. I watched alone bomber was left.

Only one.

"Come on!" I whispered to myself mostly, almost sounding desperate. If we had any sign of hope, it was placed on this one last vessel. The remaining TIE fighters were trying to keep it alive, though they too were flying out of the sky like flies, and I felt my own nails dig into the palm of my hands as the bomber was singing closer and over the top of one of the hips. It was in perfect position.

But nothing was happening. Why wasn't anything happening?

The bomber took a hit, having me hold my breath in thoughts that we were finally going to lose this battle.

"They're aiming their blasters right at us," I heard another official report, in which I instantly looked at my mother in the thoughts that this was going to be the last moments we were going to have alive together side by side. She knew it too, I could see it in her eyes now as we were waiting for something to happen. But nothing did, and my heart was racing faster from the thought.

Finally, after what felt like an age or two, the signal that the bombs left was sounding, and the bomber took its course. The bomber, however, fell to the top of the Dreadnought. I looked up from where I was, seeing out into space where this was all happening and the explosion of fire. it engulfed both the dreadnought and our bomber, almost giving everything and everyone around it a moment to pause and see the event unfold in front of us.

"Direct hit. Dreadnaught down!" There was some cheering to be heard on deck, having me almost sigh in relief as my mother sighed and sat down in her chair, her energy leaving her. It dame em walk over to her now, seeing her rouse her lips and then look at another screen. I watched too, nothing the plenty of red X-Wings and bombers that we lost. It was a heavy toll.

But we still weren't out of the woods yet. I jogged back to my console and tapped the intercom.

"Pilots, get back to the cruisers! Everyone else, make the jump to hyperspace, now!" I commanded, seeing that last part of the plan spring into action. I walked back over to my mother as the cruiser were one was getting ready for the jump, Once I was next to her, I took her hand in my own, feeling grip my hand tightly as we made the jump into Hyperspace.

"We survived," She simply replied in a gruff, having me nod in agreement as we were finally out of there.

"We did all we could do," I reminded her, seeing her finally look at me. She lost some of the shimmer from the past, and I knew it was mostly because of losing my father. It saddened me, namely killed me that she wasn't the same since then.

"It wasn't enough."

* * *

I walked down to the docking area where I knew Poe was going to be. Q2 was right on my heel, as always, while I was passing by the surviving pilots. If I talked to him first, I knew I would cushion the blow that could happen between Poe and my mother. My mother, still being fresh on finding out about the relationship between Poe and me, was seeing him as a Commander now since he was promoted. Nothing more or less. I wondered if she even saw him differently since he became the boyfriend of her only child.

Doubtful.

I saw the torn up X-Wings there in the loading bay, one of them being my best friend Janco. He got out of his X-Wing, a bit wrestled up but fine none the less. I sighed in relief, walking over to him as he got down his ladder in a few hops. When he saw me, he grinned from ear to ear as we hugged there in the loading bay,

"That was scary enough, Captain Solo," he replied to me in the hug.

"You had me worried for a second there, old friend. Need I remind you that I need you out there since I'm on console duty," I reminded him, seeing him roll his eyes back at me.

"Not my fault the General wanted to ground you. We needed you out there, some of these rookies are too reckless," he explained.

"Yeah, we lost a lot of them today," I grumbled, seeing him bit his lip. I knew he thought the same thing since he was saying nothing: we had a heavy loss. I looked past him, seeing the back X-Wing I knew very well and the top window opened. Poe.

"I need to talk to our Commander," I explained, walking past him now and weaving through the sea of rebels that were in the bay.

"Take it easy on him!" Jancon warned me, and part of me wanted to. Another part of me wanted to ream him in for not only disobeying an order with the General but being once again a reckless pilot who was close enough to death itself.

"Well done, buddy," Poe said to a fast beeping BB-8 as he got his helmet off. He handed it to one of the workers there as he finally saw me. I was giving him a hard look, in which he knew that he was either in trouble or about to be.

"Hello Captain," He said to me in a polite tone.

"Commander," I said to him, keeping my own voice level, "I would like a word."

"Just one?" He asked, almost in a coy tone as I gave him another look. He sighed, having me see that the playfulness that used to be there after a mission was long gone. This was heavy, we both could feel it.

"Poe," I said calmly and gently, "What I saw back there, that was bad…real bad."

"I know," I replied back in his own calm tone, "But we got one of those things down! That has to count for something,"

"Yes, something. Not all of it. We lost over a dozen pilots, not to mention all the bombers!" I reminded him, "And don't think you're not going to answer to the General sooner than later. I'm only talking to you now to both soften the blow and warn you. It won't be pretty."

"I've dealt with her before, Captain," he reassured me, having me give him an amused look.

"Really? I don't think you've seen her whole set of colors," I wanted. Poe was about to rebuke back at me when BB-8 started frantically chirping at him. Poe was then listening in to what BB-8 was telling him, and I was too. It made me stop in my tracks and look at them both in shock.

Did that droid say what I thought he said?

"Finn….naked…leaking…bag…what? Did you fry a chip?" Poe asked him now as BB-8 answered him, I finally whirled around, hearing what BB-8 said to him and I saw what the droid saw. There was Finn, walking around in a daze with his coma suit that he had on. The fluids from the tubes were leaking all over, and he was walking so slow compared to the others were in a frantic running pace from the recent event.

Finn was awake!

Poe rushed past me, having em finally catch up with him as we were trying to stop Finn as he walked down the hallway, not having a clue as to where he was going. I was glad to see him awake, given the circumstances and how he just woke up on his own with no warning. My talk with Poe could wait for another moment or two.

"Finn!" Poe and I exclaimed as we finally caught up with him. he looked lost in his own face and eyes. Finned looked at the both of us now as Poe spoke up to him "Hey, buddy! It's so good to see you!" More fluids were leaking from his suit, the both of us taking a step back and away from him.

"Let's…uhh. we need to get you dressed. Come on," Poe instructed him calmly as we were walking with him between the both of us, "You must have a thousand questions."

Finn turned, looking at the both of us with his look of daze long gone. He looked determined now, staring down each of us in the eyes with one simple question.

"Where's Rey?"


	2. Chapter 2

"Come on, I think we have some things in here for you," I watched from the outside of the room as Poe was showing Finn where his own extra clothes were in his quarters. Q2 and BB-8 were beeping and chirping to one another, in their own conversation compared to the humans in the room. We were still going through hyperspace, trying to get away from The First Order as much as possible and get us some time to get a new plan into action. With the recent plan that came with heavy losses, I was wrapping my head around what was going to happen to us next and what it would take for us to at least survive another assault. We couldn't afford to lose another few pilots since so many were already lost.

"Here…and take this too." Poe was giving him some pants and a white shirt, along with his old Captain jacket that Finn wore when I met him at D'Qar. Poe had his own jacket now, which suited him much more than the one Finn took on for himself. I leaned against the hallway frame there as Finn was given piece after piece, still reeling after what we told him about Rey going off to find Luke.

"Are you sure she'll be okay?" Finn asked out loud to the both of us, mostly to Poe I would think.

"She has Chewbacca and R2-D2 with her, she should be okay," Poe answered back, though now Finn was giving him a confused look.

"R2D2 was my Uncle Luke's droid when he was around my age….he also belonged to my grandfather too..." I explained, trifling off at the last part as I was thinking about Ben again. Every time I mentioned him, not to mention thinking about him, it made me miss him a bit more than before. It was a sudden shift in my chest, almost like my whole body and chest cavity. It was a sensation of something pulling, almost a dull pain or sensation. It made me press my now hand to my chest, almost thinking that it would help with the pain or odd feeling that was sprouting now within me.

I tried to concentrate on what they were talking about now, the both of them going over where Rey might have gone according to the map as my dull sensation was now thudding to my heart, almost making the sound go to my ears. What was it that I was hearing and why was it happening to me? Was something….some kind of force….was trying to talk to me?

Someone?

"Neyli?" I snapped out of the sensation that was now dimming away since I was no longer focusing on it. Poe was watching me carefully, almost thinking that he caught me in some kind of activity within my own mind, Finn was already in another room changing when Poe walked over to me now, looking concerned, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," I replied smoothly, "Nothing I'm fine." he eyed me for a moment or two, and I could tell he wasn't buying it.

"You're thinking about something, I can tell," He explained, seeing how my face was looking and even beyond my eyes. It made me give him a small enough glare now.

"I'm thinking on how close I was to losing you on the missions, adding on to the heavy losses that we took," I said in grimace since that very subject was weighing heavy on my head and within my own conscious.

"I know, and I didn't think it would get any worse than that. But we got at least one of those dreadnoughts down, that has to count for something," He explained in a bit of enthusiasm, having me snort.

"Try telling that to my mother," I added to the conversation, seeing him think about that or a moment or two, "She's not going to take this lying down."

"I can handle the General," he reminded, "You know….I think she's liking me a bit less since she found about the both of us."

"You're probably not wrong," I said in agreement, "I need to check on her and see how she's doing, She's been getting a bit better in the last couple of days, but now I think this will set her back."

Poe said nothing for a moment or two since he could tell I was telling the truth about my mother. He could see the change in her two, almost everyone could tell in the Resistance and they were trying not to show in front of others, including me. He laced our fingers together for a brief moment, having me feel the warmth and the calloused skin that he harbored after years of flying. BB-8 was chirping now to Q2 as I looked down the hallway, seeing more people walk by from time to time.

"I'll go find her. Make sure that Finn will be okay," I instructed him then, about to pull away when Poe nodded in agreement.

"Okay, I'll talk to her in a bit," He replied, then leaning over to plant a kiss on my cheek before I could react to him. I gave him a small look, seeing the small bit of grime that was still on his face along with sweat. It felt like a flame there against my skin, having me feel an instant blush now as he pulled away and gave me a small smile.

"Shove it," I grumbled to him as I squeezed our hands once more before removing it, "Come on, Q2." My droid followed me as we both were walking down the hallway again, having me hear my droid right behind me beeping and making me scoff at him.

"Don't even go there, Q2," I grumbled.

* * *

My mother was alone in her own chambers, against the windows with a clear inclination that we were hyperspace. Her head was in one of her hands, the other resting on the table. She was in deep thought, having em worry that I would disrupt with whatever was on her mind. So I waited, wearing my own captain jacket and moving my hair away from my eyes. It was getting far too long for me to handle, having me think that I would have to chop it off sometime soon.

"General?" I asked her hesitantly, keeping my voice low and soothing really since the last thing that I wanted to do was to spook her and freak her out. She finally spoke, her voice sounding a bit gruff it was and heavy with past demons and thoughts.

"You know, there are times like now when I need you father," He explained, her head still in her hand there as I walked over slowly with my hands in my pockets.

"To crack a joke?" I asked suggestively, seeing nothing from her for a moment or two, "You know his jokes were the worst."

"I have no idea where he got them from, but I didn't care," She said in agreement as she finally lifted her head and looked out the window, "They would make me smile in times like this."

I felt bad for her, a heavy feeling sunk to my lower stomach in seeing how my mother was suffering lowly but surely. she had to keep going since he was in command, but I could tell he was loosing more than what it was worth. I finally sat down across from her, seeing her watch out the window while I was trying to find the right words.

"Mom," I finally said, seeing her break away and look at me with her soulful eyes, "I'm here to help as much as I can. If you need me to help you…" I trailed off, seeing her shake her head.

"You have done far too much for me," She reassured me, taking my hand in hers and feeling how frail it was, "I know it's been far too hard since…." She couldn't finish it, and I knew what she was talking about.

"Since we lost dad," I finished for her, seeing her say nothing now as she was taking in her own deep breath, "Things have changed, I think everyone feels it. But mom….you can't hold this all on your own," I wanted her to know the truth: that she too was made of glass like the rest of us and she could break at any moment with the right amount of pressure.

It didn't matter that she was a General or how many plans and missions she has conducted most of her career with the Resistance, it mattered that she was my mother first and she could only be strong for so long. After losing her husband and only son, I was surprised she was fighting the good fight.

"I wanted to talk to you earlier about all that's been happening lately here with the Resistance," She explained now, shifting a turn now and taking on a new subject, "I'm thinking of promoting you to Commander."

"Is that a good idea?" I asked her now, thinking that now would not be the best idea for something like a promotion on my end to happen, "I mean, It's not that I'm grateful or anything…but still. Given the circumstances…"

"The circumstances are exactly why I'm doing this," She informed me, her voice was being calm and smooth again from the moment before. My mom was sounding like a General again, "You've done a good amount of work here behind the console. I think I've been using you far too much by my side and not with you in the air."

"Times are hard, especially now with the First Order," I reminded her, but she shook her head.

"You have gone far and beyond what I needed in a Captain, and in a good way. Neyli, you deserve this Promotion, now more than ever," She explained, having em shift a bit in my seat, "And if they do have a problem that you're my daughter, they can take it up with me."

"Trust me, I don't think that's the one thing they have on their minds," I reassured her. My mother smiled, that small smile that I knew and I loved her as she then grimaced a bit from another thought that on her mind.

"What happened today out there…it could have gone a lot worse. I don't know what Poe was thinking when he did that," She vented a bit, having me stay silent and I watched her now think to herself and have her won moment. Finally, she stopped, looked at me now and seeing some kind of hesitance there on her own face. I knew she knew about Poe and me, we both talked to her after all that happened with my father. Although reluctant, and with a proper warning from Poe to not break my heart, she was fine with us. But I knew that too would bring some awkwardness.

"I have to punish him for what he did," She reminded me, having me shrug my shoulders.

"He knows you're mad at him, and I can't tell you not to do it. You are technically in charge," I answered, seeing her raise her eyebrow at me.

"You're not going to defend him?" She asked in a bemused manner, in which I shook my head.

"He's reckless and he does have to leaner that he is human like the rest of us," I explained to her now, seeing her analyze me and almost look confused as to why I wasn't defending my own boyfriend, "Trust me, some of those things that he did…he has to lie his own bed for it."

My mother chuckled, having me grin back at her. It was a brief moment or happiness and peace that we were feeling at that moment, of all the times and will everything happening.

"You still thinking of being with him?" She asked, in hopes that I would say no. I just smiled briefly and I nodded my head.

"Eh, I think I'll keep him around for a bit more," I replied in a shrug of my shoulders. I didn't think I would ever be in the position that my mother would second guess who I was dating. It might have been that Poe was one of her top pilots ever, and he was dating her only child, "if it helps, dad liked him a lot."

"Well….your dad didn't have the best sense." My mom joked, another brief moment of peace that we both had. I only wished we would have that for a longer time.

We needed it more than ever.

* * *

I felt it again, that tug in my chest that was clearly telling me something or having my need to concentrate on something. I was back in my own quarters, taking off my own jacket and wearing my combat boots, pants, sleeveless shite combat shirt and getting my long hair in a braid. I needed a breather from all that happened, trying to clear my own head.

My quarters there on the cruiser were a bit bare since the recent evacuation, but I took another trinket here and there from my old place back at D'Qar. One of them was the Force tree that Poe gave me years before when we started our relationship. It was still in its planter, a bit bigger now but not too big to not fit in my room. Another keepsake that I knew I needed to keep was my father's old blaster, something Chewbacca grabbed for me and kept for me. My mother didn't know that I had it, but Chewie was not going to rat me out to her.

That tug was feeling more intense, compared to how it was before when I was listening in to Poe and Finn. This time, it was giving me some kind of sign, having me stop and concentrate on what it was. I finally closed my eyes and breathed out slowly and within again. It reminded me of the plenty of hours mediation as I was training to be a Jedi, in my younger years of certainty and a good future. I thought of my Uncle Luke, wanting to know where he was and if he was right.

Where are you, Uncle Luke?

I thought of his voice, how it was both soothing to hear it times of trouble and determined in times of stress. He was the constant voice that leads me to the light of The Force. His stance as he stood tall and still watching me practice with my lightsaber. His presence was soothing, it was peaceful, and it was direct and a straight path. I needed that path again since it was more jagged than ever.

 _Neyli….Neyli…..Neyli don't!_

I opened my eyes, hearing my Uncle's voice so clear now that it was like he was right behind me. I felt my blood freeze, thinking it was a trick of the brain. I couldn't help but tune behind me, seeing my own lightsaber that was resting on the top of one of my cheeses hover a bit in the air. All on its own, making freeze now since I thought if I moved then I would break whatever was holding it up. Was I doing this without knowing? I watched it now as it was not only hovering a few inches off the surface, but it was shaking a bit. Something was telling me to watch, to channel my energy to my saber. it felt like it was my Uncle talking to me, which sounded morbid and unfair to say since I had no clue where he was and if he was okay. But something was telling me that it was Luke doing this, telling me something with my own saber.

Was he?

"Captain Solo, you're needed on deck." My interlace went off in my room, having me throw out my hand to have my saber instantly fly into my grasp within a second. I felt connected again, touching my weapon and placing it on my hip into its holster that I would wear from time to time without realizing it. Because of the recent events, just having my lightsabers near me was enough to keep me sane, especially in times of trouble and uncertainty.


	3. Chapter 3

"You're demoted,"

I did not see that coming, let alone the slap.

I watched from the other side of the room as Poe and General Organa were talking, well, mostly mother demoting Poe back to Captain status. I should have seen it coming from how my mother even wanted me in how she was going to talk to Poe about this whole mission. But i did have to give my mother some props to not backing down to Poe, and the same with Poe not backing down from my mother. I knew they both were head-strong and stubborn, which would lead to fireworks sooner or later.

When I saw my mother slap Poe, it felt like I was watching something that should be behind closed doors. It was bad enough that we almost lost the whole mission, and now we were going to have to live with the aftermath. Finn and I stood side by side as we were watching them talk in a heated exchange of words. Even Finn felt out of place with what was going on.

"I don't think we should be watching this," He commented under his breath as he finally looked over at me, catching my eyes for a brief moment and having me see that he was thinking within himself about me. I looked at him, cocking my eye at him now in intrigue.

"What?" I asked him, seeing hi shift a bit now as he gave me a small smile.

"I remembered what happened back on that base…what happened to Han," He explained softly, almost like he was walking over eggshells.

"It's all right," I reasoned, not wanting to have this kind of conversation at this time. I didn't want to push it over and think of it a nothing really, but then again I knew he was just trying to be nice. He could feel that kind of tension too, which made me smile at him a bit more, "If I know my dad, he would want us to keep doing what we're doing right now." He thought about what I told him and I couldn't help but think he was agreeing with me.

I knew my father pretty well, and all though he wasn't one to be on the front line with the Resistance, I knew deep down that my dad was one who never backed down from a fight. He never did unless he knew it was worth fighting for, and sure he was a skeptic and not unconvinced of the Force, but he was a good man none the less.

"There were heroes on that mission," I heard Poe attempt to reason with my mother.

"Dead heroes. No leaders," she replied in a short manner, walking away again as I looked eyes with Poe now, seeing him now watching me to give me some kind of sign that he was fine. It didn't seem like it, and I shook my head silently at him to not press it further.

"Poe," I was about to start, walking over to stand next to him as he was looking at me dead in the eye.

"It's fine," He replied, a bit too short for my liking now as I eyed him. He was angry, either at my mother or with how things went down for him since he was no longer Commander

"You don't have to lie to me, Poe," I reminded him, close enough to where only he could hear, "It's me you're talking to." He stayed quiet then, having me just watch him for a moment or two to have him think to himself. I really wanted to drag him out of the room and just let him vent out what he was feeling, that or even tell me what was going on. It felt like he was holding back.

"We're really nowhere," Finn spoke up as he was looking at our maps, "How's Rey going to find us now?" I looked too as my mother showed some kind of bracelet that she was wearing under her sleeve. It was glowing and beeping, having me move over to Poe now and watch her.

"A cloaked binary beacon," Finn said with a gasp.

"To light her way home," my mother added.

"Right, so until she gets back, what's the new plan?" He asked, having me move back over to where they were standing and talking together.

"We need to find a new base."

"One with enough power to get a distress signal to our allies, scattered in the outer rim," Commander D'Arcy explained to him from her monitor. But as soon as she spoke, a warning signal went off in the room, everyone going out on alert to see what was going on.

"They found us."

"That's not possible," Poe said in shock by Admiral Ackbar. I looked as well to where he was gazing, all of us looking in shock as the dreadnoughts that were left came into view from being in hyperspace. It felt like we were traveling in a nightmare and now it was slowing becoming a reality, "That's Snoke's ship. It can't be….can we jump at light speed?"

"We have enough fuel resources for just one jump." One officer answered him.

"Well do it, we've got to get out of here," Poe instructed her. But my mother held out her hand.

"Wait. They've tracked us through lightspeed." She said slowly, a sudden realizing for all of there in the room. It made no sense as to how that possible for them to do such a thing if it was ever possible.

"That's impossible." Finn voiced what we were thinking that whole thing.

"It can't be," I added in agreement, "How can they do that?"

"Yes, but they've done it." My mother added.

"So if we jump to lightspeed, then they'll find us again and we'll be out of fuel," Finn worked it out loud, "They got us."

"Not yet they don't." Poe said in determination, BB-8 looking at his master in earnest as Poe walked over to my mother with that glint back in his eyes, "Permission to go into an X-Wing and blow something up?"

"Permission granted. Admiral swing us around," Poe moved away from my mother then to get down the hall, having em dig my own heels in now as I looked back to my mother in that moment.

"General?" I asked her once, seeing her stop in her tracks and look over at me. She could see it in how I was standing so still and yet bouncing on my feet, my own fingers were tapping against my sides as I was waiting for her to give me one permission from one word. I wanted to fly, I wanted to fight. No more hiding behind a console like I did recently, and no more holding back either.

"Go," She replied, seeing me smile at her and give her one nod. I bolted, running after Poe and his droid down the hallway over to the hangar where I knew I had my old X-Wing stored there since the evacuation. I was running as fast as I could, along with the other pilots that were making their way to the hanger.

"Neyli!" Poe said in a huff as I was running alongside him now, BB-8 leading the both of us as we were barreling down the hallway, "Are you crazy?"

"What? I can't join the fight with you guys?" I asked him almost in amusement, "We need pilots out there."

"And we need leaders back with the General," He argued, BB-8 then chirping at the both of us.

"Don't wait for me, jump in and fire her up!" Poe commanded his droid as BB-8 rolled even faster. He turned his head to me since we were running neck and neck, "It's too risky."

"I've done worse missions that this," I reminded him, "We can't afford to have another willing pilot to sit this one out,"

"We need to have a talk after this," He said in a huff, making me shake my head.

"Love you too," I joked with him, the both of us turning the final corner that would lead to the main hanger. I knew were my own X-Wing was, tucked in the back by Jancon's own X-Wing. While others were getting their own X-Wings ready to go, I moved away from Poe to branch out to my own since his black X-Wing was right in front. But suddenly, out of nowhere, a huge blast erupted the loading bay, and everything went bright and loud. I was launched back from where I was running, slamming into the wall behind me back near the opening of the hallway. It shook me to my core as my back collided with the wall, losing my breath and almost my own brain for a quick second now as I hit the ground and found myself out in the hallway from one of the smaller doors.

Coughing a bit, I shook it off and looked over to the left, hearing the warning sounds go off for the emergency doors to close. There in the hallway within the rubble was Poe, but he wasn't moving. I panicked, getting up slowly and rushing over there before I could think twice. BB-8 was rolling around with no head, beeping frantically as i made it to Poe's body. Finally, he was blinking and trying to move as I cradled his head in my hands to check for damage. I didn't see blood, which was both good and a bad sign since it felt like any damage would be more internal.

"Poe?" I asked him in worry. He blinked up at me, having me see the brown eyes that I knew and loved. He slowly breathed out, raising his head a bit now from my grasp as we both looked at the emergency blast doors shutting, seeing his black X-Wings in flames before it disappeared.

"I'm okay," He said in a huff, lacing our fingers together by his head and I breathed out a shaky breath.

"Poe! Neyli, you guys alright?" It was Finn that spoke, running over to us now and kneeling to see if we were both okay. But since we lost our own loading bay full of other pilots and X-Wings, we had no other option than to get away and get away fast.

"We need to get out of reach of those star destroyers," I explained to the both of them as I helped Poe get back up on his feet, "I need to tell my mother, now!"

"Come on," Poe said in agreement and the three of us headed back over to where the main control room. as we were running, I could see a small group of TIE fighters flying past us and trying to penetrate our shields that were around our vessel, making me panic even more since it felt like we were on a thin rope. Out of the blue, within a few seconds of running, something made me stop by one of the windows and grasp the window sill. It felt like I was almost in pain, or felling something that was close to pain. I looked down, thinking that I was hurt by the blast, But nothing was there, and yet in my own heart, it felt like pain….

Emotional pain. It was Ben.

"Neyli?" Poe asked me now, noticing that I wasn't running anymore. I felt it again, the emotional pain that someone was going through was being transferred to me like a link. I looked out the window, seeing the TIE fighters again and wondering, having some kind of hint, that Ben was out there flying in one of those and doing this damage. Was it true?

 _Ben….why are you doing this Ben….please._

He felt close, close enough for me to speak to him at least. I could sense him being close, the energy he had when we were training was radiating with my own chest. It must have been that we were siblings, born in the same wound in itself, or that we were connected through the Force when we were training to be Jedi.

Something rocked the cruiser, almost like a larger explosion just went through. I grabbed done the windowsill and held on as I felt that impact. Poe and Finn rushed over, the three of us seeing a large explosion fly into space as I scanned the area to see where it was coming from. I had no real clue at first, and with the TIE fighters still flying around and the debris from the explosion. But I then saw it, a small enough figure since it was so far away but the dress was distinguished enough. I froze, my own voice lost.

My mother.

"No…NO!" I screamed, running over to place my hands on the window as I saw her out in space, alone, and dead. She was floating, already lost. At least she was to me. I wanted to scream out from what I was seeing. Wherever she was, she died from that explosion and watched helplessly. There was nothing I could do, nothing I could have done, which made me sick to my stomach and have my own feelings of regret and pain. I felt Finn and Poe run over to stand behind me, seeing what I was seeing, and I could feel Poe place his hands on my arms to at least pry me away from seeing.

And then, the most amazing thing happened. We all saw it, the three of us against the window in the middle of an assault on our cruiser, my mother's body was moving slowly towards us. It was like she was in fact float, gracefully with her hand and arm extended towards one of the emergency blockade doors that was still attached to the vessel. I wondered what was going on, focusing on my mother's body now in how she was slowly getting fast and fast over to us at an alarming rate. It hit me, surely it did since nothing else could be making sense in that moment.

I started running to where she was going, Finn and Poe right on my heels as we were trying to beat her to the blockade doors. As much as I was dreading what I was seeing, something inside told me to be optimistic, that she was still alive and something was keeping her that way. Finally, after getting the sensation that my lungs were about to burst, we made to the doors just in time. After the doors closed behind her from the outside, the other set was opened finally and I caught her just in time before she fell to the floor.

"Medical! Now!" Poe yelled out as others were finally sensing what was going on and they too were looking in shock and panic. I was on the floor, holding my unconscious mother now with one hand wrapped in hers as another underneath her along her back. She was ice cold, far too cold from being the freeze open space, and her eyes were drifted shut. A small dew of space matter around her body like a barrier as I was checking to see if she was still alive, not wanting to release her or be away from her.

"Mom?" I asked her, not wanting to use her formal title anymore since that was not my top priority. She almost faintly grasped my hand now. having me panic that I did something as some of the medical officers finally arrived, bringing their own gurney with them. I could feel them lifting her out of my arms, placing a breathing mask on her. I held her hand the hold time, walking next to her as they whisked her along the hallways and towards the medical area of the cruiser.

"Make room!" Poe was calling out to people, helping us get through the mass crowds that were still there and almost giving me a case of being claustrophobia. I just needed to be next to my mother, in hopes to feel she was still alive. What she did back there, out in the openness of space, was enough to confuse and bewitch me for a long time. A part of me wanted to think it was pure luck that saved her, or almost saved her. But another part of me thought it was something else, or even my mother herself, that made it happen.

"Wait here, please Commander Solo," I was told to wait behind large glass windows as they got her into another room, a bigger medical examination room to check on her. I couldn't hear anything, which was making this worse now as they were placing wires on her and checking her breathing. I didn't want to blink once in fear that I would miss something important that she would do. I already lost one parent, and to lose another would kill me from the inside out.

I would be alone.

Poe stood next to me, saying nothing at first but looking just as worried as they were checking her vitals. I tried to breathe out slowly, but it felt like a panicked breath. Poe reached down to hold my hand, having me squeezed it back gently as he finally spoke up.

"She'll make it," He reminded me, almost like a vow that was set in stone, "I know she'll make it." Finally, he looked over at me now, seeing the fear on my face and how I was ready to cry at any moment. My own mind was elsewhere, somewhere far away and in sadness with determination.

"She can't die," I said in a gasp, feeling him grip my hand harder now, "Poe, not now. She can't leave me now."

"Neyli, come here," He said in a hushed tone as he pulled me into his arms without a second thought. I just needed something to ground me, and being within the arms of Poe was enough to keep me there. He knew I needed it, and we both were beyond caring about the thought of others seeing us. I cringed, closing my eyes and feeling that pit of feelings again. That tug was duller now, against my lower stomach and I thought of Ben again.

But I felt something back…something from Ben.

I felt pain too.


	4. Chapter 4

I sat in the waiting room where they had my mother, sat in one of the chairs that was next to her bed and I could only watch her. Q2 was sleeping against the wall near us, giving me some peace and quiet with my mother. We lost others on the command deck, including General Ackbar, and now I felt like we were being lost in limbo with no real direction as to which was up or down. All I could think about was my mother since the other officers were scrambling around to find out what to do next. I didn't care about that at the moment. We were safe from the First Order and any huge assaults that could be coming our way.

My mother needed me.

The doors opened on the other side of the room, a suite that they placed my mother in while she as resting, having me still focus on my mother's vitals and the numbers that were floating over the monitor over her head. Once i heard the doors closed and some footsteps coming my way, I breathed out slowly now since I had a good feeling of who was going to be there in the room with me.

"They said that there's no change in how she came in, but she's stable," I explained out loud in the room, my voice sounding a bit hoarse and very far away. I blinked a few times, finally taking in my own breath as the footsteps came closer, "It was a miracle that she's still alive…."

"I wouldn't call it a miracle myself," Poe added as he sat across from me in the other spare chair. I shook my own head, knowing full well what it was that did save my mother.

"It was the Force," I explained, the both of us quiet when I brought it up. Poe watched me, analyzed me fully now as I was thinking it over in my head, "How else could my mother, at her age, survive something like this? She should be dead, not here and barely hang on."

"I didn't know she was Force Sensitive like you," Poe explained.

"Me neither, she never mentioned it. It wasn't a normal topic that was brought up," I informed him, shifting a bit in my chair. Poe cocked his eye at me now, seeing my face and how I was thinking to myself and what I was going through. He scooted a bit closer, our legs almost touching each other, my mother resting on my right and his left.

"Poe, before that explosion happened outside the cruiser…..I felt something," I explained carefully, looking back at my mother now as I was tapping my foot on the floor, "I felt….I felt my brother."

"You felt him?" He asked me, not sounding convinced.

"I don't know how to explain it….but I knew he was out there. Something inside of me was telling me he was there, very close to me." I went on, almost off on my own rant now since it felt like I needed to tell someone, anyone, with what was going on with me.

"How is that possible?" He asked me, seeing me shoot my eyes at him and seeing a sense of skepticism there on his face, he cleared his throat a bit,"I mean, if he was out there….how did you know?"

"It's harder to explain, Poe," I simply replied, thinking in how I could tell him, "When we were training with my Uncle Luke, we both had a connection to each other. I could…I could feel where he was if he wasn't near me, and I could feel what he was feeling."

"His emotions?" He asked, once again almost not convinced.

"We were connected since we were born, Poe. But when we were training, how Uncle taught us to channel what we were feeling in the other, using those emotions for The Force. It was the same thing when we were kids, what I felt back there. But Ben was sad….I felt how broken he was."

He said nothing, in which made me confused as to what I was saying myself. I might have sounded crazy with all that was happening, but sounding stable at all. I sighed, getting up from my chair and walking away from him.

"It sounds crazy, I shouldn't have said it," I muttered in defeat, hearing Poe get up from his own spot and brisk his way over to me.

"No, no no. Neyli it doesn't," He reassured me as he placed himself in front of me, trying to get eye contact with me again now as I shook my head and made fists at my side.

"Nothing is making sense anymore with all that is happening," I explained in a huff, seeing some hurt in his eyes, "I don't know if my mother will wake up, my own brother is someone that I don't even know anymore….and I can feel his pain with my own pain!" It was coming out in waves, almost too much for me to have in that moment. Even some of the lights were flickering now since my own emotions were channeling into The Force and my own energy bursting in emotional turmoil. It was bubbling under my skin and finally, Poe placed his hands on my arms, almost bringing my outbursts down to a simmer or a rumble.

"Hey, hey. Easy…it's okay. Neyli, look at me, please," I finally looked back at him, the lights stopping their flickering now from my own emotions. Poe looked around, still holding onto me and seeing how things looked back to normal, "How did you do that?"

"It was you," I replied calmly, seeing him, finally snap his eyes to me, "For some reason, I'm always back to normal because of you." He slowly smiled at me, rubbing my arms with his fingers and the palms of his hands.

"I know it doesn't seem like it, but I know things are going to be okay," he explained in his soothing tone. I knew that tone he would use in the past. He was trying to stay optimistic for the both of us since it felt like I was getting hit all over, "And trust me, I don't know what you're feeling. But just know that I love you, and I'm going be there to help you in any way that I can." I finally smile, slowly and felt a bit better from what he was telling me. With all the crap that came my way, it seemed like Poe was still sticking by me though at times I wondered why. We were already past the 'I love you' phase of our relationship, and I was trying to savor each moment we would have together along given our current circumstances.

"I keep saying this, but I don't deserve you," I reminded him, watching his smirk on his face that I grew to love. He leaned in and kissed me sweetly on the lips, giving me those butterflies every time and having me sigh against his lips. I kissed him back slowly, wanting this moment to last for a few more seconds. Once we pulled away, I could feel my own heartbeat slowing down with ease and with peace. It was still hard to fathom that Poe was capable to do something like that to me.

"I'm the one that screwed up today, so it's me you don't deserve," He admitted, having me cock my head at him, "But we can both agree we don't deserve each other."

"How about we figure this all out from here?" I asked with a suggestion. since I felt like either of us wanted to go down that road of guilt and who was to blame. We both were leaders, and we needed to find a way to win this war. He nodded his head, having me grin at him with one more question in mind.

"Who's going to lead us now?"

* * *

"General Organa….Leia…is unconscious, but recovering. That the only good news I have," I sat with Poe next to me as Commander D'Arcy was giving news about my mother and her condition to the others that survived the assault. Things were looking rather grim for the Resistance with no real place to turn or to go, and sing I was another Commander there on the cruiser, I was needed to lead now more than ever.

"Admiral Ackbar…all of our leadership, are gone," A murmur was heard in the meeting room, people whispering to each other or just drinking in the new information, "Leia was the sole survivor of the leadership."

"Oh dear, oh dear," mourned C-3PO. D'Arcy looked at me now, sitting in the front as she motioned for me to come and say a few words to the others in the room.

"Commander Solo has a few choice words for us in this time of need," She explained, having em clear my throat a bit. Poe squeezed my hand in encouragement as I finally got up and walked to where she was in the middle. I could see it in all of their faces: the look of being lost and having no sense of direction.

"If she were here, she would say…'save your sorrow for after the fight'." I said in a calm tone, looking at everyone in hopes that they believed me, "She would want us to continue with our mission, no matter what it takes." Some people nodded in agreement other were still in shock from the news. But I gave them a small smile, finally, looking back at Poe and seeing him give me a small smile in return.

"And to that end, the change of command is clear as to who will take her place," D'Arcy informed us, Poe perking up a bit as I was looking at her as well, "Vice Admiral Holdo," I looked behind me at the woman who was walking up to the both of us. She was a tall woman, looking thin with purple vibrant hair that was styled to her jawline and wavy. She was rather pretty, and yet she seemed to be more stoic than graceful as she glided to the center of the room.

"Thank you, Commanders," She thanked the both of us, even her voice was peaceful. I moved with D'Arcy to the side to give her the floor, watching and analyzing her as she started to address the room with the people.

"400 of us, on three ships. We're the very last of the Resistance," She explained, her stance was stiff and yet relaxed at the same time, "But we're not alone. In every corner of the galaxy, the down draughted and the oppressed know our symbol, and they put their hope in it. We are the spark that will light the fire that will restore the Republic. That spark, this Resistance, must survive. That is our mission. Now to your stations, and may The Force be with us."

It took only a moment or so to have everyone in the room to start moving again and getting to their stations. It felt like we were back on the move, slowly but surely as people were murmuring to each other and getting things back in order. I was watching her, however, as she was walking away from the center of the room and over to one of the main consoles.

"That's Admiral Holdo?" Poe asked another pilot as she, in fact, approached me. I was almost taken back from how she glided over but she had determination in her step as she did this.

"Commander Solo, I was hoping to have a word with you," she explained to me. I nodded my head.

"Of course, Admiral," I replied, seeing her smile while we both walked over to the consoles.

"I understand that you were recently promoted from Captain to Commander," She said to me in a light tone.

"Very recently, ma'am," I answered.

"I've heard plenty about you and your flight experiences. You also have experience here int he commander center as well, if I'm not mistaken," She went on, having me once again agree.

"That's correct. General Organa advised me to be at her side in the strategy portions of the missions as of late," I explained. She then gave me a sweet enough smile, though I had no idea what she was going to do next really or tell me next.

"If we are to win this war, I need leaders like your mother," She informed me with her small smile, "I do hope that I can see that in you, even in this troubled time." I wondered what she meant by that, if she was expecting me to roll over and let her take over complexity since my mother was not in the picture. A part of me wanted to follow orders, but a part of me as also suspicious and wanting to keep her at an arm's length away. Maybe that was the better choice, the smarter choice.

I couldn't trust her just yet.

"Vice Admiral? Commander Dameron, with our current field consumption there is a very limited amount of time that we can stay out of range of those Star Destroyers," Poe explained as he walked up from his seat finally to talk to her. I said nothing, moving to stand next to D'Arcy as Holdo was already at work at her console.

"Very kind of you to make me aware," She replied smoothly back to him, not too curt or too passive really. I wondered where this conversation was going really. Poe could tell something was up, and she spoke up again.

"We need to shake them before we can find a new base so… what's our plan?" he asked, sounding less sure about her real and a bit more on the irritated side since I could tell this was not how he wanted this talk to go with the new head leader. She looked at him finally, which made me lose my view of her face to see what was going on.

"Our plan, Captain? Not Commander, right? Unlike Commander Solo there next to you." I cringed a bit as she moved away to walk a bit, Poe right behind her now. Great, this was going to be awkward now as I stayed still, "Isn't that Leia last official act was to demote you? For your Dreadnaught plan," I looked at Poe, seeing him try so hard to keep ti together. I was silently telling him to do the same, I didn't want him in trouble if not worse since she was in charge now. Poe scoffed a bit as she once again walked away from him, hands on his hips now as I was no tempted to drag him out of the room before he would make him look more like an idiot.

"Where we lost our entire bombing fleet?" She asked again, eyeing him to see what he was going to do if she pushed the right button. It felt like a powder keg was about to burst with one more word. Poe walked over to her now, not backing down one second as he was trying to maintain his own anger from what she was trying to at least remind him of what he did.

"Captain, Commander, you can call me whatever you like," He explained to her, not backing down,"I just want to know what's going on," I walked over slowly now, in hopes to interfere if needed and if it was going to get from bad to worse.

"Of course you do," she replied back to him with her own smile that seemed forced, "I understand. I've dealt with a lot of trigger happy flyboys like you. You're impulsive, dangerous, it's the last thing we need right now. So stick to your post, and follow my orders." I knew that would be the tipping point as I finally cleared my throat, in hopes to break the tension.

"Captain Dameron, a word with you and Jancon, please," I said in my smooth tone, still seeing him drill his eyes into her. I wondered if he was tempted to pull his baster on her or give her a piece of his own mind, but I was glad I stepped in. She walked away now, Poe thing out a shaky breath as I waited for him. Finally, he reluctantly moved over to where I was, and I saw some anger and irritation on his face.

"Get to our quarters and cool off," I requested to him in a smooth whisper, seeing him about to shake his head, "You're two seconds away from making a stupid choice and being demoted again, if not worse. Please, leave before I have to make you." I didn't like this side of myself, even dong this to Poe in front of other people which was why I whispered.

I so desperately wanted to reach out and take his hand in my own, but since we were out in the open that would be no option. Plus, the Admiral Holds might see how I was treated him and vice versa, that would be another big can of worms that I would have to deal with.

We both couldn't afford that.

"Meet me there in ten," he replied in a curt tone, moving away from me than without me replying to him. I watched, crossing my arms as he walked out of the room with BB-8 right behind him, having me cringe inward int opes that there would be some kind of silver lignin out of all of this.

"C-3PO," I said to the metallic droid while I walked over to him, "Do me a favor and keep tabs on my mother and her condition. I want you to only report what you find out to me and me alone, understand."

"Of course, Master Neyli….unless Admiral Holdo does wish to inquire about her," He started to explain as I shook my head and silenced the droid.

"I think it's best that this can be our little secret, 3PO. You think?" I asked him, not wanting to make a scene in front of the other officers. He paused, almost contemplating himself if this was a good idea.

"If you do say so,"

"Yes, I do."

* * *

I closed the door behind me, sealing the quarters that I knew Poe and I shared on the cruiser. No one else knew about it, and knowing our luck we would get found out my Holdo herself. How much of a scandal would that bring to the cruiser in itself? Poe was already pacing back and forth, his hands making a fist to his side and his eyes were looking far from being so bright like I knew they would be. He was frustrated, and I knew he needed to vent in order to feel better.

As soon as the doors closed, he released his pain.

"Who does she think she is?! She's nothing of a leader that we need right now!" He vented between his teeth as I watched him carefully. BB-8 was beeping back at him, mostly to calm him down and also to maybe talk him off a ledge. Q2 stayed next to me, quietly watching too as I listened to him eating some more.

"We don't need someone like her! We need a leader!" Poe blurted out, having me take my own deep breath now as I took a step over to him.

"Well, technically she is a leader and she's seen action before," I tried to reason, yet I knew that wasn't going to work.

"Why can't you take over?" He blurted out, having me give him small smile then as he stopped moving and looked at me with anger in his eyes. I thought about it for a moment now as I walked slowly over to him, not wanting to go too fast or use too harsh of a tone.

"For one, if this was anything of a monarchy then sure, I would take over since I have general Organa's daughter," I explained, seeing him pause and watch me in how relaxed I was saying this. I could even see a small smirk there on his face now as I went on, "Secondly, I'm only a Commander. I don't have enough experience to lead an entire Resistance fleet again something like The First Order."

He slowly was realizing what I was telling him, and it made me slowly smile at him now as I eyed him.

"Poe," I voiced,"You're gonna hate me for saying this to you: but I think you need to calm down a bit. You just got demoted, and this new Admiral already is not liking you. What we need to do right now, is to focus on just surviving and getting away from the First Order," He eyed me, almost not convinced on what I was asking him. It made me roll my eyes at him, "And don't think I'll order you to do that either. I'm asking you as someone who cares about your well being. What would my mother say to you?"

When I asked that, I saw him think to himself a lot more. It might have been where I hit a note with him: Poe would follow my mother to the ends of the galaxy. I knew he would, without blinking twice. So when he finally breathed out slowly, I could see that some of that tension on his shoulders was long gone.

"She would want us to keep fighting," He replied, almost begrudgingly and I could sense that it was enough that I was going to get out of him. We then heard a bunch of rapid knocking at the door, the both of us not moving and looking over in that direction. Did someone listen to our conversation? I looked back at Poe now, seeing him slowly walk over to the door and tap the buttons to open it. On the other side was Finn, but he wasn't alone. He accompanied by a worker, one of the mechanics. She looked young, almost as young as I was, and they looked had a determined look on their faces. It made me rush over to where Poe was now as he looked at them both in confusion.

"What's going on?" He asked them both as I saw Finn gave the young woman a look.

"We have a plan."


	5. Chapter 5

Planet Naboo

Age 9

I was staring up at the grass, looking up at the sunset and how the colors were mixing into the sky and giving the small sensation of a kaleidoscope. I was on top of a large blanket that I took out from my bedroom that no more than twenty feet away from me. Out in my garden and in the backyard was a small opening that was a cliff that showed the Capital of Naboo below, but even though it was a beautiful night, I wasn't myself as I could hear footsteps behind me in the soft tall glass. My hand was absentmindedly was twirling one of the wildflowers into my small nimble fingers.

"Heya kid," I blinked a few times, not wanting to get up just yet but I knew that it was my father's voice. He sounded upbeat, but I wasn't feeling up to it as he went on, "You mom's wondering if you're gonna come in to have dinner or not. If you're up to it really, base I know how your mom makes dinner sometimes,"

I finally sat up, feeling some of my hair fall around me for a moment or two before I saw my father in front of me. He was wearing his usual clothes, hands on his hips and a small amount of stubble on his chin and cheeks. He grinned at me for a split second before he saw the look I was giving him. I bit my lower lip.

"Am I weird, dad?" I asked him, sounded as honest as I could and not wanting to sound like I was about to cry in front of him. He looked hurt when I asked him this, shifted his foot for a moment or two now before he cocked his heard to me.

"What makes you say that?" He asked me, having me look at him and clearly not get what he was asking me.

"I don't think I fit in anywhere," I admitted to him, sitting Indian style on my blanket there in the grass, "None of the kids like me and…I think I'm weird."

"Well, for one thing, you have me and your mother…clearly being normal is not going to be part of your life," He admitted to me, a small smirk on his lips. But that wasn't helping me, and he could see it and his smile faltered a bit. He sighed, walking over to sit there on the blanket across from me. He seemed bigger on the blanket compared to myself, but somehow that was comforting enough. Looking at me clearly in the eyes, I saw that he was going to give me one of his talks.

"Listen, kid. If there's one thing that I've learned in all my life around this big galaxy, is that normalcy is never a good thing," he explained, having em almost scoff at him.

"Yeah right, dad," I mumbled.

"I'm serious, Neyli," He replied, having me watch him carefully, "I don't think there's anything wrong with not being normal here in the galaxy. Trust me, I thought I knew all there was to know when it came to what was normal or right…but man was I wrong." I cocked my own head at him now, wondering where he was going with this talk.

"All of that went out the window when I met your mother and your Uncle Luke," He added, thinking to himself and I looked at him with intrigue. I didn't think that there would be something in his head to have him pause and to have a moment to himself, "They changed what I thought bath everything….including The Force."

"You didn't believe in it?" I asked him in curiosity.

"Not at first," he answered smoothly, "But like I said, when I met your mother and your Uncle, they changed that in me. So, believe me, normalcy is not part of this family. But that's a good thing, right?"

"I guess," I replied, thinking about it myself. I didn't mind that our family, compared to others that my mother knew through her job, wasn't close to normal. Others that I knew seemed to have normal families, and then again my Uncle was a well-known Jedi I liked having that in my family, even with my family.

"Look, Neyli. I don't want you to worry about how much you're different. You're far more unique in this galaxy than anything else, and that's one thing I don't want to change in you," He sounded serious now, moving his hand over to my hair to get a twig that was nestled in the strands there. Once he pulled it out and showed me, I grinned, almost giggling now as he smiled at me.

"You're amazing just as you are. Don't be anything else, at least don't be anything else for me." He reassured me. I grinned widely at him as he held me in his arms and hugged me while the sun was going down slowly. His warmth and his love for me took all of those pains and worries away from me now. I wanted that feeling to stay with me forever.

If Only.

* * *

Present Day

"Just, give it to me one more time, but simpler," Poe said to the both of them as he sat down in front of both Finn and the mechanic named Rose. We were meeting back at my mother's resting quarters. She was still unconscious, but we felt as though this room was secure enough for us to have this kind of talk since both Finn and Rose has a plan that could help the Resistance.

"So the First Order's only tracking us from one destroyer, the lead one." Finn started.

"So we blow that one up?" Poe asked in a suggestion.

"I like where your head's at but no, they'd only start tracking us from another destroyer, but if we can sneak on board the lead destroyer and disable the tracker, without them realizing it—"

"They won't release it's off after one system cycle. About six minutes," Roses ended for him. I looked at her in a surprising way. She was rather intelligent, bright of course but intelligent none the less because of how smoothly she knew about the shields and how to disable them.

"Sneak on board," The map came on of the destroyer and how to get to the main area, "Disable the tracker. Our fleet escapes before they realize" I watched the map display as Finn explained the plan simpler to them. Poe was thinking to himself of the plan, then humming to himself as he finally got up. He got up, which gave me the perfect opportunity to speak up then for Poe.

"How'd you two meet?" I asked, Poe now looking over at as Finn and Rose looked at each other to see what they were going to say.

"Just luck," Rose answered, Q2 beeped at me in a questioning way as I hushed him under my beath.

"Yeah? Good luck?" Poe asked now as I moved my gaze over to my mother, walking over to her and almost where C-3PO was. I was still concerned about her, and hearing this plan made me wonder if she would be fine with something as drastic as this.

"Not sure yet," Rose answered him as I held my mother's hand, feeling the fragile skin under my youthful one.

"Poe, Neyli, we gotta do this," Finn told the both of us now as Poe walked over to stand next to me, seeing my concern on my face as I watched my mother breathe slowly and deeply, "It'll save the fleet and it'll save Rey."

Poe placed his hand on my wrist near my mother's hand, having me finally look over at him now. He was once again watching me to see what I was thinking and what I would say to this kind of mission. His eyes searched my own now.

"Neyli?" He asked me quietly, having me breathe out carefully now.

"If I must be the sole voice of reason, Admiral Hold would never agree to this plan," C-3PO voiced his opinion now as I nodded my head at Poe, silently telling him my answer. Poe nodded in agreement to me, still holding my wrist gently and not letting me go.

"Yeah, you're right, 3PO," Poe said to the droid without taking his eyes off of me, "It's a need to know plan, and she doesn't." C-3PO started to stutter now as I finally looked back at the digital map of the star destroyer and then looking at both Rose and Finn.

"Alright, you two shut down that tracker. I'll be here to jump us to light speed," I explained as I started working on the console below the map, "The question is, how do we sneak you two onto Snoke's star destroyer?"

"We steal clearance codes!" Rose suggested.

"No, they are bio-hexicripped. They're descrambled every hour," We all looked at Finn as he informed us, having me feel another sting of defeat and a step backward, "We can't get through their shields undetected, nobody can." I paused, giving myself a moment or two to finally thinking of someone that possibly could. Someone that we had on our side in the past and who could help us now if she could.

"I know someone."

* * *

"Could I do it? Of course, I could do it! But I can't do it, I'm a little tied up right now!"

Maz, the one Resistance ally that I knew could get in and out of a situation both legally and illegally if she tried. She knew my father, was good friends with both my father and mother and I couldn't think of anyone else to help us in this time of change and need, However, she seemed to be in some kind of battle while we were talking to her on the projection.

"Maz, what is happening?" Finn asked in confusion.

"Union dispute, you do not want to hear about it," She explained, avoiding another blast close to her head, "But, lucky for you, there's exactly one guy I trust that can crash that kind of security!" Now she was running, more blasters were heard as she bolted down some hallway with her own blaster in her hand.

"He's a master codebreaker, an ace pilot, a poet with a blaster," Maz cocked her blaster and shot some more, C-3PO gasping behind us.

"Oh my, it sounds like this codebreaker can do anything," He explained in amazement.

"Oh yes he can," Maz said in agreement, a little to light for my taste, "You'll find him with a red pondblume on his lapel, rolling at a high stakes table," She took another shot after taking off her massive glasses to see through her scope, "In the casino, on Canto Bite."

"Canto Bite." Poe mimicked what she said in determination,"I don't know that place. Maz, is there any way we can take care of this ourselves?"

"Sorry, kiddo. This is rarefy cracking. If you want to get on that destroyer, I'll leave you with one option: find the master codebreaker," And with that, she was gone from the communication. We were in silence once again. Finn then reached over to give me the tracker that my mother had to find Rey, holding it out of me to take from him. I was a bit shocked that he had it, and that he wanted me to hold it.

I took it, placing it over my wrist like my mother would wear it before, feeling the cool metal against my skin.

"If you hear anything from Rey…" Finn started, having me nod at him since I knew what he was going to ask me.

"Of course, Finn. You'll be the first person I'll talk to," I reassured him, patting the back of his hand as he was giving me a gentle handshake. I knew he wanted to fine Rey, more than anything.

"I'll walk you guys to your ship before you get noticed. You can take BB-8 with you," Poe said to the both of them. Finn looked back at me one more time, giving me time to smile at him.

"Good luck," I said to them both, "May The Force be with you." Finn gave me a small smile, Rose looked more determined as they then walked out of the room with Poe and BB-8 right behind them. I was still in a daze that we were going to go through with this, and that I was holding the tracker to Rey. It felt like more weight was placed on my shoulders now when the communicator went back on.

"Neyli…are you there still?" I looked at the communicator and the screen that popped up, seeing Maz looking right at me now with her blaster still in her hands. She was in some room with no battle going on, maybe she was hiding out for good now. I walked over to see her better, though I could tell she was looking directly at me.

"I'm here, Maz," I replied to her.

"I wanted to talk to you alone, without the others," she informed me, "I wanted to let you know, that your father mentioned you to me plenty of times," I took in my own breath, not knowing what was going on and why she was mentioning my dad now. I knew they knew each other very well, she even talked him out of going on a few risky jobs while he was back to his smuggling days.

"I know that Maz," I responded back to her.

"But I also have something of his to give to you, that he wanted me to give you some time in the near future," She explained, having em arch an eyebrow to her now since now I was beyond curious as to what she was going to show me or send me.

"What is it?" I asked her, then hearing some blaster going off far in the distance on her end of the line.

"No time to tell you: I'll send it to your coordinates as soon as I'm done taking these guys out!" She answered, then the communicator went off. It left me frozen there in the room, confused and almost blindsided. What was she going to send me? What did my father have?

Did he know what was going to happen to him?

* * *

The pull was back again in my lower stomach, and it was far too warm than it was before. I was walking along the hallway within the cruiser, minutes after Finn and Rose snuck out in one of our smaller ships to complete our secret mission. Poe was doing his part to stay out of trouble and not have Admiral Hold hate him even more or suspect him even more. I had to play along as well, not wanting to give away anything that could get us in trouble.

Walking down the hallway, I felt that tug within my stomach and I had to stop, wanting to find out what was going on and why I was feeling it constantly now. I wish I could talk to my mother to ask her if she knew what this feeling was. It felt like it had something to do with The Force, it could be real. Was I overthinking this?

 _Neyli…Neyli is that you?_

I heard a voice in my head, a deep voice that I thought I knew before from somewhere in the past. It was a familiar voice, very familiar and it made me freeze there in the hallway. The voice was so close that it sounded like someone was right behind me as a whisper.

But I knew this voice…I really knew it.

 _Neyli…..can you hear me?_

It was almost soothing and yet desperate at the same time. I concentrated on the voice, which was so familiar. It felt like I was channeling the voice of someone far away and very distant from me. I was using my kind of energy that I would use before when I was training with my Uncle Luke. Wait….Uncle Luke?

 _Uncle Luke…is that you?_

I didn't hear anything else, but that tug and feeling that I got in the past came back in a flicker. Everything was back to normal now, the feeling that was there was now gone and I was thinking back to reality in the hallway of that cruiser. Something definitely was going on and shifting since the assault that we had with the First Order. All I knew in that moment, that something was about to change, whether I was ready or not.


	6. Chapter 6

"How's the count of that vessel?" I asked the Kaydel Ko Connix as she was scanning the last of the medical vessel. It lost all of its fuel, which lead it the vessel itself being left behind and back in range of the First Order. Thankfully, we had the rest of the crew on the ship evacuated and brought to the cruiser, but it left one pilot stay behind and make the sacrifice. It was one of the many signs that we were running out of time, let alone fuel, and something had to be done.

But of course, Admiral Hold wanted us to press on.

"All of the crew is off and heading to way, commander," Connix replied to me as I sighed in some relief, "Receiving transmission now from the pilot."

"Bring it ahead," Holdo instructed her, the both of us was watching now as the pilot approved in his driver's seat.

"The rest of our crew has been evacuated and is heading your way. It's been an honor, Admiral." The last of the message was cut off and the vision was no longer there on the screen. It felt surreal, knowing that we lost one of our ships and there was nothing we could do about it. I didn't know how to feel about this, and all of us naturally looked over at Admiral Holdo.

"Admiral, fuel is now at 6 hours," Connix reported to her, even her voice was low and not showing any kind of enthusiasm. We all looked at the new leader, D'Arcy included as we were hoping to hear something else that could bring up our spirits. She kept her eyes dad ahead of the window, witnessing the debris of our recent medical vessel.

"Maintain our current course, steady on," Connix reluctantly looked back at her console as I bit my lower lip. I didn't want to lash out at her, or even show any kind of pain that we were going through since we were literally running out of time and fuel. I had to walk away for a bit now, running my fingers through my hair. Once again. I needed to be in the company of Poe to at least get rid of some of these nerves that I was sensing.

Speaking of which, I saw him looking out the window himself on the other side of the main control room, alone and looking for tense about the situation than ever. He wasn't keeping his cool, which made me nervous. In the past, he would be able to keep calm in a situation like this, but now this was a different Poe.

"Keep me informed if something else changes, please?" I asked Connix now as she was still on her monitor.

"Of course, Commander," She replied, having me see her give me a sad smile. Walking over to the main entrance of the control room, I couldn't help but feel that Admiral Hold was watching me leave as if she senses something within me that was off. I could feel her eyes drilling into the back of my head as I was back into the hallway.

* * *

I made it to my mother's quarters, feeling a peaceful quiet there within the room and my now anxiety was back in ease now. It felt chaotic back in the control room, and yet now I was calm. It was an odd change, a very odd change when I locked my gaze over to my mother, who was still resting in her spot. I walked over, taking my time and hoping that something good would come out of all of this.

I sat back down in my usual spot next to my mother, seeing how calm she was in her sleep and her heartbeat was good and strong. I closed my eyes, resting next to her and feeling the fatigue rolling off my shoulders. I wasn't thinking of anything else but my mother, her own health and where my Uncle would be. It was a constant thought and worry, if he was alive and safe or if he would come.

"Uncle Luke…" I said mostly to myself now, resting my hand on top of my mother's now and just breathing slowly, "I need you, Uncle Luke." It felt odd that I was talking to no one, let alone someone who might be dead or gone far away from here. But it also felt soothing and a bit reassuring that I was at least venting what was going on in my own brain.

"Things are bad here, and I need you," I said it aloud in the room, mostly in a soft tone and trying to remain calm. I pictured my Uncle in my head, how I would talk to him in the past and yet he would give me the same gentle smile and face before he would give me his own advice. I was pretending this was one of those time, back in training and back to when things were simple.

"My mother needs you, I know she needs you even though she won't admit it," I explained, almost smiling from the joke I told about my mother, "But Uncle Luke, please help."

Talking my myself, in a room where no one else was really going to hear me, maybe I thought that I was clearly losing my own mind. It was my breaking point, but who else would I really talk to in a moment like this. But that's when I felt it: a tug on my lower stomach that felt like a wave about to crash and splatter. Not only that, but I heard his voice.

 _"Neyli…."_

It was crystal clear, so clear that it felt like he was in the room. I shot my eyes open, looking over at my mother now. Her heartbeat was going faster, making me think that she was about to wake up finally. Suddenly, I was hearing her whisper one word out loud, one name actually.

 _"Luke."_

I shot up from the chair, moving away from my mother like she shocked me. Well, she did really, since she whispered my Uncle's name and I knew I felt his presence there in the room. Was he contacting her? How could that be the case? I was watching her with wide eyes now, feeling that same presence of The Force and how he was using that to talk to both myself and my mother.

* * *

Admiral Holdo was still remaining on her course, even after I left my mother once again to at least make an appearance there in the control room. I could see that the officers were slowly losing some of the enthusiasm as we were losing some of our other ships. It was making me itch to find at last one X-Wing that I would jump into and help in the fight that was still going on outside in our small safe zone.

A part of me wanted to talk to Poe about what I heard in my mother's quarters, getting it off my chest. But the other part of me dind't want to say a word, since it would draw attention to me and get me in trouble. That wasn't worth it, at least not yet.

Once we lost out last support vessel, it felt like we were at the very end of our rope and yet we were still pressing on. I wondered what we were going to do next, and not knowing was the worst part of all of this.

I hated not knowing.

"Is she in there?"

"The Admiral's stationed on the bridge. Let's not have a scene."

"No. Let's."

I shot my head over at the commotion, seeing Poe storm into the control room now with a swagger in his step and mean glare in his eye. He walked right over to Hold, beelining really.

"Holdo?"

"Flyboy." She smoothed replied with a tilt of her head. I stood still as he stood his ground in front of her.

"Cut it, lady. We had a fleet and now we're down to one ship and you told us nothing!" He vented to her, "Tell us we have a plan! That there's hope!" he motioned to the rest of us in the room, whom were all in silence and watching this all unfold in front of us. I was shocked that he blew up in front of her in that kind of notion, and I wanted nothing more than to grab him and get him out of the room.

"When I served under Leia, she would say, 'Hope is like the sun. You could only believe in it if you see it'." She calmly responded to him, having me take a step forward now wondering when I should step in.

"We'll never make it through the night," He muttered in a bitter tone.

"Yes," She answered, having me walk over to the both of them now in hopes that I would be able to diffuse the situation.

"Admiral Holdo," I said to her now, getting her focus over to me and away from how Poe was acting to her, "There has to be some kind concrete alternate choice we can make other than this," I could tell how she was staring at me now that I was pushing it with her, as if she was thinking that I was betraying her and how she was running the cruiser.

"You're fueling up the transports?" Poe asked now, having me snap my head over to where he was looking, the minor on the wall indicating that it was true. Transporters were fueling up, which made me look at the Admiral in wonder and almost in confusion now. She stayed still and composed, not even phased one bit with the both of us in front of her. I was starting to get really worried now, He walked over, storming over in his steps.

"You are. All of them? We're abandoning ship? Is that….what you got, that's what you're brought us to? Coward!" Poe was pacing now, fuming little bit little and this was now the tipping point for him. He kicked the chair that was there, a couple of people moving out of the way now as I finally spoke up.

"Poe, that's enough!" I said to him in a warning, but he went on without listening to me and was still firing his rage at Holdo. Two officers were about to get him, but Holdo stopped them thankfully.

"Those transport ships are unarmed and unshielded. We abandon this cruiser, we're done. We don't stand a chance! No, you are not just a coward, you are a traitor." He yelled at her, the whole room watching and listening to it all. I felt as though he would do something else to her that would be drastic, and just as he was about to make another move, I stopped him.

I had my hand out slightly at my side, freezing him in his spot like a statue with his feet glued to the floor. I knew he felt it, and he threw a gaze at me for a moment. I shook my head, silently telling him not to do it. He wanted a fight, and I wanted him to stay out of it.

"Get this man off my bridge," Holdo instructed, having me finally release Poe from being frozen by his feet and the two officers were escorting him out of the room. I went to follow, hoping that I would fly g him down and talk him off his ledge, when Holdo stopped me, "Commander Solo, you stay."

Poe looked back at me as I was called out, but he was still being pushed back out of the bridge by the two officers. I felt him look at me in worry while I stayed still and Holdo almost glided over to her. Her stance was not rigid, thanks to Poe and his need to call her a traitor, but she remained calm in front of me.

"I'm surprised, Commander, since I know you have flown with him on several hundred missions no doubt," She explained to me, having me raise an eyebrow at her now.

"I don't know what you mean, Admiral," I said, seeing her give me a small smile.

"Don't take this the wrong way, but I'm not blind to everything that is on this cruiser," I saw how her aged but stern eyes were drilling into my own, "There is a connection between the two of you, I know there is. It's not my place to know what it is, but I do advise you to think carefully before you make a choice like Captain Dameron just did,"

I knew that was a threat.

I stayed still, drinking that in and hoping that the one part of me did not snap one bit. I remained calm, and yet inside I wanted to scream at her for what she was doing. This was not what my mother wanted, and I felt as though I needed to speak for my mother and give this Admiral a piece of my mind.

"Of course, Admiral."

* * *

"Poe, Poe where are you?" I hissed as I was walking down the hallway, Q2 was right being me as I was looking in all the nooks and crannies that he could be hiding in. I needed to both vent on him and vent to him at the same time. It felt as though his own anger was spewing on me now, which was making this whole situation worse. The last thing we both needed was the both of us to get into trouble.

"Finn, Holdo's loading the crew in the shuttles! She's gonna abandon ship, where are you?" I skidded to a halt when I heard his voice, hearing it on my left side in one of the smaller closets. I immediately ran over, looking through one of the vents. He was sitting on one of the storage boxes, hunched over his smaller communicator that was in his hand. The one that Finn gave him to talk to.

"Poe, we're on our way back to the fleet, we're so close."

"Did you find the master codebreaker?" Poe asked in his hushed tone.

"We found….a code breaker. We can shut the tracker down, just buy us a little more time," I finally had enough, opening the door myself and seeing Poe looked down in frustration from what he was hearing. He shot his head up when he saw me, and I could tell he was about to say something when I shot out my hand. The communicator flew into my hand within a millisecond and I clutched it.

"This is Neyli. Finn, you need to hurry," I said into the communicator. Poe looked at me in shock now from what I pulled on him, but I was focused on Finn.

"Neyli?" Finn asked.

"Poe's right: Holdo is about to abandon ship and we are losing valuable time," I hissed into the communicator, looking down the hall to make sure that no one was watching us now.

"You got it, Neyli, hang tight," Finn replied, having me sigh to heard the communicator go silent. I closed my eyes for a brief second and resting my other hand on my hip. My own brain was fried at this point and I needed to calm myself down, however, Poe looking up at me was not helping me at all.

"Neyli—" He started, but I threw up a finger at him to silence him.

"Don't…just give me a second," I said to him in a harsh whisper. Poe went quiet as I walked away from him and looked out the window, no longer seeing our other vessels out and about but just our cruiser alone. Even Q2 went quiet, moving to be against the wall and giving me space. Poe walked over to me carefully, seeing that I was too tense up to just talk normally.

"This is bad," I said in a sorrowful tone now, watching the stars in front of us, "This is real…real bad,"

"I know," He agreed.

"Admiral Holdo knows that something's up between us," I informed him, seeing him look at me in shock.

"What? How does she know?" He asked in a shocked whisper.

"How should I know?!" I hissed back at him, seeing him dead in the eyes, "She just warned me not to make a stupid decision like you did back there. That was great by the way!"

"Your sarcasm is really helpful," He replied deadpanned.

"I get you're angry at her," I explained, watching him huff and looked away from me, "I really get it, Poe. I'm angry too, but we can't afford to be angry anymore. We could lose our lives at this very moment, and I don't think us getting angry is going to make that destination to death a little smoother,"

"How can I help that when she's doing what I think is cowardly?" he argued back with me.

"But what if it's not?" I countered, getting right in his face now as I was trying to get the both of us on the same page, "She's doing what she think's is best for the Resistance, and if that means we have to save all the lives we have left then so be it,"

"You honestly think she's making a good choice right now?" He asked, almost a bit hurt that it felt like I was taking Holdo's side in this argument.

"If you were in her shoes, would you want to have all of the lives on this cruiser, the only ones we have left in the Resistance, be left in the dust and placed in the hands of The First Order?" I challenged, seeing him think about for only a split second, "You know, I'm not completely speaking for my mother, but I would think she would want to save us all too and run."

"I'm done running," He said to me, "I'm not running from them anymore when I knew we can do something and fight back!" I had to stare at him hard, and for a second I forgot I was talking to Poe, the one Poe I knew and grew as a person with. He was different now, almost a different person.

"It's one thing to run, but it's another to try and survive to fight later on," I corrected him, having me slowly shake my head at him and feel as though I was, in fact, talking to someone completely different, "Poe, I don't know what is going on, but you're not yourself." I didn't want it sound as bad it seemed, but I felt as though he needed a reality check. It crushed me that we were reaching this point between us now, given the circumstances. Poe reached down and took my hand, feeling ti tremble a bit now as I watched him give me a gentler look, smaller yet determined at the same time.

"Neyli, I have to do something. Whether you're accepting it or not, I can't stand back and let this blow over," He explained softer now, some of that rage and anger left him, "I can handle myself from here on out, and I don't want you to get in trouble if you come with me."

"Well, you should have thought of that when you kissed me all those years ago," I reminded Poe, seeing him tilt his head at me in confusion, "Because I'm always going to stand with you on what you decide to do." I took that vow when we decided to be together, inwardly I did. We both were going to face hardships, and I didn't want to steer away from Poe. He scanned my eyes, seeing that I was feeling the truth. He then licked his own lips, squeezed my hand one more time.

"Then it's a good thing I'm not gonna tell you what I have planned right now," He explained, having me look at him with a hint of shock.

"What are you talking about?" I asked him, feeling him give me a cocky pilot smile and give me a sweet kiss on my cheek before looking at me one more time.

"I'm sorry," he apologized, moving away from me now and heading over to the loading bay. I was stunned for a few seconds, not knowing what to do or how to react, but something was definitely up.

He was up to something.

* * *

"Poe! Poe, wait!" I called out to him, running after him now. I chased after him now as we were making our way through the halls and into the loading bay. I saw the transports being loaded and some of the fighters already getting into them. Holdo was there of course, and I witness Poe rushing over to her now and talking to her in another calm attempt to have her see what he had planned. Wait, was he telling her about our plan with Finn and Rose?

"Neyli, hold up!" Jancon said to me in a hushed tone as he grabbed my arm before I could keep going to stop Poe. I looked over at Jancon now with a raised eyebrow since it felt like he knew something too.

"Jancon, I need to stop him before he—" I started to explain, but Jancon shook his head.

"I know what he's gonna do," I stopped talking and watched my best friend as he watched Poe, finally looking over at me with a glint in his eyes, 'Trust me, just wait."

"What's going on?" I finally asked him, seeing him watch me carefully as I was tuning into the conversation between Holdo and Poe.

"It's safe for me not to tell you." He merely replied, now having me feel more out of place since I was now listening in. He tucked me behind him now, almost out of the view of Holdo. Why was he hiding me?

"So a stormtrooper and a who-now are doing what?" Holdo asked him now, clearly agitated.

"They are trying to save us. This is our best chance at an escape, you have to give Finn and Rose all the time you have," Poe explained to her, having me inwardly cringe since she now knew what was going on and what we were doing behind her back.

"You have bet the survival of the Resistance on bad odds and put us all at risks?" She fumed at him, leaning back before I could tell she really wanted to smack him, "There's no time now. We have to get clear of the cruiser, load the transports." She risked away from Poe now, channeling him out.

"Right away, Admiral," A pilot replied.

"Yeah, I was afraid you'd say that," Poe huffed, whirling around on his foot and holding out his pistol at her. I panicked, about to say something too when Jancon did the same with his blaster, two others as well and they were all pointing at Holdo and the main officers.

What the hell?

"Vice Admiral Holdo, I am relieved you of your command for the survival of this, its crew and the Resistance," I couldn't say a word as Poe was telling her this, a couple of pilots behind her, two other officers and Commander D'Arcy were doing the same. He had another plan running up his sleeve without me knowing, and I didn't know if I should be beyond angry with him, or proud of him.

Believe me, I was conflicted.

"I hope you understand what you're doing," Holdo admitted to him. Poe placed his blaster in his holster now.

"Yeah, I'm going to the bridge," He informed the pilot next to him, "If they move, stun them." He walked through them, Connix was right on his tail as Jancon and I stayed still for a moment or two before Poe spoke up, "Jancon, come with me."

Jancon tugged me with him and we both were walking away and out of the sight of Holdo and the other officers. As soon the four of us were going down the hallway, I jogged up to Poe and was walking in a stride with him.

"Are you kidding me? You planned all of that and you didn't tell me?" I asked him in a huff while trying to keep up with him. He looked over at me, a small grin there on his face since he could tell I was shocked from what just transpired mere seconds ago. I knew that smirk, I've seen it so many times before when he was about to do something crazy.

"Well I didn't want you to know and get yourself in trouble too," He reminded me, "If I get in trouble, that's fine. But you shouldn't."

"How did you pull this off?" I asked him.

"You have to ask him?" Jancon countered back, having me huff as Poe took out his communicator that he had for the others.

"BB-8 tell me something good," he spoke, making me look back a few times to make sure we weren't going to be followed.

"Poe, we're almost there. Have the cruiser prepped for light speed."

"Yeah, I'm on it, pal. You just hurry," Poe responded, all of us slowing down as we finally made it to the bridge. Jancon followed Poe over to the main control panel as Connix and I looked at the other consoles. Q2 beeped when I walked in, rolling over to me

"Clear the bridge, escorted the officers down to the hanger," I instructed the other officers and pilots in the room.

"Commander….oh I mean Captain, Admiral Holdo was looking for you," C-3PO informed Poe as he sat in one of the main console seats. Q2 bepped at C-3PO, in which the golden droid replied back to him, "Oh you hush yourself!"

"Yeah we spoke," he replied briefly now as he looked at the monitor. I glided over to Jancon, the both of us watching the rest of the crew leave the bridge

"Can he pull this off?" I asked him in unbelief, Jancon now giving me a side eye.

"You're asking me? Neyli, you're dating him: you know him better than I do," He reminded me, having me pause and the both of us shoot our looks at Poe.

"Not as much as I should apparently," I replied back under my breath now. I felt like we were watching a master at work.

"Sir, I am almost afraid to ask—" C-3PO was putting his sense in, yet again.

"Good instinct, 3PO. Go with that, " Poe responded to him, hitting a few buttons there on the console. The monitor near me was showing the lights within the main hanger were shutting off and leaving it dark. So far, so good for this crazy plan.

"We need to buy Finn and Rose a little more time before we can leave," Poe explained to Jancon and me in the room.

"But we're losing the time," I reminded him.

"They better make it soon, we can't hold Holdo hostage forever," Jancon added, then blaster fires were heard in the minor by Poe's head. I rushed over, Poe and I seeing blaster going off from Holdo herself. She stunned the pilots.

"Oh no," I said in a mourning tone.

"Seal that door!" Poe commanded, Connix rushing over and getting the door shut just in time. I could feel my heart getting bigger and bigger with every moment that was building up to this. I felt like I needed to panic because Holdo was now fighting back. Someone could be killed,

"3PO, where do you think you're going?" Poe asked, snapping my head over to see C-3PO making his way over to the door. Q2 whirled at the walking droid, almost in retaliation.

"It would be a great offense to my programming if I take part in a mutiny," He replied, walking slowly over to the door. I walked over, placing my hands on him to at least talk to him.

"3PO, listen," I urged him, "You need to stay in here,"

"It is not correct protocol," He resounded back to me, moving out of the way to get to the door. I was about to stop him one more time before the shield doors started sparkking, the both of us jumping back. Someone on the otherside was breaking in. Q2 whirled in fear and moved over to hide behind Poe.

"Neyli!" Poe said with a gasp, calling me back over to where he was. I moved backward, grabbing my lightsaber in my hand and holding it in a deathgrip. I had no intention of using it at that moment, but I felt a bit safe having it in my hand in case something had to be done.

"Ohhh!" C-3PO gasped out, the sparks were getting bigger and more intense as Poe spoke in his communicator to Finn on the other end.

"Finn! We're ready to make the jump!" Poe instructed Finn. I looked at Jancon, hearing him whip out his baster too and aim at the door.

"Rebel scum! get down on the floor!" I looked behind at Poe, hearing his communicator and someone yelling on the other end. We both looked at each other in fear, the thought of Finn and Rose being in trouble over there and no one there to help them. I then heard another voice on the intercom, which made my blood in my veins freeze almost completely.

"FN2187…..so good to have you back."

"No," I gasped, hearing more sparks from the door now and we all looked back to the door once again. I drew out my saber, the blade coming out on both ends as I held it in front of me. We were at our wit's end.

"They didn't make it," Poe whispered, and the last of the door was blown to bits. I shifted my stance, C-3PO shaking a bit in his spot next to Connix. Jancon and Poe shifted in their spots with their blasters at the door, no one moving in the few seconds in hopes that whoever would come through would at least be reasoned with. We passed, the smoke still coming through the open doorway now. I wondered what was going to be on the other side, and when that person came through, we were all floored. No one spoke, but I was shocked like the rest of the people in the room.

"Leia."


	7. Chapter 7

"Mom?"

I was watching in a frozen state as my mother was walking into the room, still in her white robes and using a cane. No one could even make a sound as she was staring hard at Poe, making me gulp and wonder what she was going to do with him. Finally, she lifted a stun blaster and shot it at Poe, having me whirl around and see Poen get launched back to hit the wall. He fell in a heap, knocked out cold. I retracted my lightsaber and bolted over to him, kneeling over his unconscious body.

"Poe. Can you hear me?" I whispered with a hint of worry now as I heard my mother walking over to me now, slowly with her cane and I looked back at her. I cradled Poe's head in my lap in case there was some damage to him.

"He'll be okay, the kid has a harder head than I thought he did," she reassured me, Connix, Jancon, and C-3PO still frozen in their spots not knowing what to do. I was still reeling that she was awake and walking, not knowing what to tell her now as she slowly made her way over to me. She placed the blaster away, her kind smile was showing me that things were okay, even with all that was happening.

"How did you…?" I asked, not finishing the sentence now as she knelt down very slowly. I saw her reach down to take the tracker that was on my wrist, the same one that I had to find Rey. I didn't stop her, and I didn't want it, it felt safer and better with her than it did with me.

"It's a bit of a story, but now's not the time to talk about it," She explained, having me smile since I have missed her voice terribly. It felt like years since I heard it last, almost like a whisper in the back of my head from all that was crumbling around us. She even saw the uneasiness on my face now reaching up to place her hand on my cheek, making me instantly lean into it.

"Neyli…it's going to be okay," She reminded me, having me breathe out slowly with my hands still holding onto Poe like a deathtrap.

"How do you know that?" I asked her in a low tone, not wanting to sound angry but more uncertain. She only smiled at me, reminding me of my father in how he would smile.

"Because we have a plan."

* * *

I helped place Poe on one of the carriers from the medical bay, Jancon helping me along with Connix. My mother reassured us that we weren't going to be in trouble from what Poe tried to do with Holdo, and Holdo was much more of an ally than we thought she was. I was just glad my mother was back, not fearing about her life as much anymore, though she was still getting some of her energy back.

"Neyli," My mother said to me, having me looking away from Poe's sleeping frame on the hovering carrier. I was clutching his hand that was at his side, he was still feeling alive and arm, "Come walk with me."

I paused, looking back at Poe now. He tried to take on a mutiny and now he was out cold by my own mother, the poor guy needed some kind of break. I squeezed his hand lovingly now before I released him and walked with my mother, the both of us walking in front of the group as we were making our way to the loading bay.

"Listen, I wanted to talk to you about Holdo," She explained, making me look at her with small twigs of panic.

"Mom, what Poe tried to do—" I started, but she stopped me.

"She knows what we're trying to do, trust me," She reassured me as we kept walking down the hallway, "She and I go back when I was on those diplomatic missions on other planets. She worked for me, I trained her."

"Which is why I never met her," I added, my mother nodding in agreement.

"I didn't want you to anyhow. I was never one to mix in business with my family," She informed me, "However, given the circumstances, I told her about you later on when you were getting older and making your own choices. I even told her to trust you and your judgment if something were to happen to me." I stopped my mother then, looking at her dead in the eyes.

"You knew you were going to…" I began, seeing her watch me back and not say a single thing to thing. That couldn't be the case, it would seem bizarre that my mother would know what would almost kill her.

"I knew that something would happen to me, possibly now or in the future. And I know that your head and heart are in a better place, a place that could lead this Resistance on a steady path," She explained to me in her serious voice. I gulped, still not understanding what she was telling me and yet I did.

"Mom," I started with her, taking her hand gently in my own, "Before you were….when you almost died," I paused, my mother watching me gently and carefully, "I felt something. It felt like….it felt like Ben was there. Somewhere out there, he was there."

I waited for her tell me that I was either crazy or making a joke at her since she was still mourning my twin brother. But she said nothing at first, which was a bit worse now. Did I hit a nerve with her? She just gave me a soft stare now as I inwardly cringed.

"I felt him too," my eyes went wide as she said this, my stance shifting a bit now as she nodded her head slowly at me.

"How?" I asked her.

"I just did. I knew he was out there, and I knew what he was feeling too," She explained to me, having me drink that part in now as she squeezed my hand, "It's part of our family: The Force. You have it, same with your brother, same with me."

"And I also heard something else, when I was watching over you. Mom, I heard Uncle Luke," I explained, seeing her scan my eyes, "It was like he was in the room. I think he was trying to talk to me. Do you think he's alive?"

"I do," She answered, sounding so sure and so confident about it. I smiled at her, not wanting to hear about it. If my mother had that belief, it was enough for me,"Let's make sure Poe doesn't miss the transporter."

"I'm going on with him," I said as we both walked again.

"I'll join you."

* * *

Holdo touched his cheek one more time, her smile was evident on her face as I was watching with a confused look next to my mother. She changed into new clothes, finally looking like her old self now while the transporters were getting ready to leave the cruisers. Jancon, Connix, and I were back in good graces with her, since my mother filled us in with the plan that was going to work after all.

"Okay, help me push him up guys," I said to the group of pilots around me, 5 others including Jancon grabbed the piece of the hovering carrier and started getting him up the ramp.

"That one's a troublemaker. I like him."

"Me too," My mother and Holdo were talking to each other in front of the transport. I was walking up the ramp with Poe, still unconscious, next to me and Jancon on the other side. While we were walking, I eyed Jancon now with a raised eyebrow.

"That could have been worse," I mentioned to him, seeing him roll his eyes as we got Poe in a spot on the transport.

"It could have, but was it?" He asked, having me smirk at him, "I don't think so."

"Good thing my mom was there," I said in a huff, looking down at Poe now and watching his chest rise and fall. Jancon chuckled, making me finally look back at him. I felt a bit proud that Jancon stuck with the plan, my best friend in the Resistance other than Poe and someone whom I trusted with my life. He liked me as a friend beyond the fact that General Leia was my mother.

"You know, Poe didn't want you to get caught in this whole thing," He explained.

"I know," I replied.

"And as poetic as this sounds, I know he would take on a lot for you," He reminded me, in which my heart tugged a small bit. We both already said we loved each other, and yet in those dark times we that we were in, I wanted him to be awake so I could tell him myself. We had to come back to the start, the both of us really, and a peaceful feeling was washing over me again. I looked back out to my mother and Holdo, the both of them talking intensely to each other. Looking back at Jancon, I pointed to Poe.

"Keep an eye on him," I instructed him, walking back out to the opening to the transporter. Q2 beeped behind me, having me look down at ym fthful droid, "You need to stay too."

"Like I'll let him do anything else stupid," Jancon called out to me, making me grin now as C-3PO was making his way up the ramp. I felt like I was intruding on a serious talk with my mother and Holdo now, making me pause at the entrance to the transport and watch.

"Someone needs to stay behind and pilot the cruiser," Holdo explained, my mother pausing and I could tell this was going on a steady course that we couldn't fix. It all had to do with Holdo.

"Too many losses. I can't take anymore," she reminded Holdo with a hint of pain in her voice.

"Sure you can. You taught me how." Holdo reassured here with her own smile. It pained me, seeing that Holdo was about to do for the sake of the Resistance. She was going to sacrifice herself, to let us have a chance at survival, This was her plan the whole time, but just for everyone to leave the cruiser, but for her to stay behind.

"May the Force be with you, always," She said to my mother, the both of them holding hands in a gentle manner. I knew they were saying goodbye, and I was about to turn around and leave when Holdo caught me first.

"Commander Solo," She called to me, making me reluctantly walk down the ramp over to her and my mother. Holdo had her gentle smile back on her face, the same smile she showed when she was introduced to the Resistance.

"I'm sorry for any trouble I caused, Admiral," I apologized to her, seeing her just smirk at me.

"I wouldn't expect any less from the daughter of Leia Organa Solo here," She reminded me, "And I'm glad to have met you. Your mother spoke highly of you: your bravery and kindness. Not to mention your heart." I smiled at her widely now, no longer any kind of pain or resentfulness of what she tried to do for the Resistance. It all floated away from me.

"Thank you," I thanked her, seeing her grin at me and nod.

"Of course, keep that spark within you going," She instructed me, patting my hand on her own now. I felt a small tug of defeat that she was staying behind and not coming with us. But if this was part of the plan, who was I to disapprove since they both knew what they were doing.

I only hoped they did.

* * *

After watching the cruiser go far off from our eyes, I was resting my head against the window of the transporter, my mother on the other end of the seat and was watching me carefully. My one hand was resting in my lap whereas my other hand was laced in Poe's hand, holding it gently and delicately. We were off into space out, picking up speed and making our way to a new base: a remote planet named Crait that was used as a Resistance Base back in the day. The planet was coming close to the window where we were, whereas the cruiser was drifting away on the other side of the transporter.

"Last time I saw that look," My mom said to me, having me look from Poe over to her now, "Was when you were the one recovering and Poe was where you are." I gave her a small smile, a flutter from my own stomach gave way a bit from the memory back at our old base. Right after my father died and I realized that my twin brother was still alive.

"You care about him, much more than you dare to say," My mother went on, "I felt the same way towards your father when we were young. As stubborn and dim-witted that he was at times…I still cared for him."

"I love him," I said simply, feeling lighter than air when I said it out loud between the both of us, "I don't know when it happened, or how it happened. I just….do." For me, it was hard to really describe what I was feeling how I loved Poe. The words that I would want to use wouldn't have existed or even come close to me using. But all I could think about was a place or a world that Poe didn't exist, and yet I couldn't.

"I know I haven't told you in the past, and I think I should have. Mostly I was in denial and I thought it would blow over," My mother started to explain, having me watch her in confusion now to see what she was talking about. But she gave me her stare that I would rarely see, something within her was making her spread the warmth all over her body and within her face. Pure happiness. Something I haven't seen in years.

"I like the two of you together," It made me smile widely at her now, having me wish that time would stop for this moment that we were having together. It felt like we were in a normal setting, not running for our lives from the First Order. I never thought I would get her blessing with Poe and me, and hear it. Then again. I didn't think I would need her blessing since I was content with where I was. Given all that happened, it was a seal for me.

"Never thought you would say that," I gasped at her, "Ever."

"Me neither," she snorted back at me, the quiet going back to the both of us now as we were slowly going farther away from the cruiser. I leaned my head back against the window again, seeing the stars scattered out and around the blackness of the galaxy. Q3 bumpbed against my leg, having me shake out of my thoughts now as my droid was beeping at me in a whiz of communciation. I rose my eyebrow.

"You have what?" I asked him, my mother perking up.

"What is it?" She asked me now, seeing the confusion on my face. My own heart froze a moment now as I looked over at her for a brief moment before looking back at Q3. The driod beeped once more now as one of the compartments on the front slowly moved open, showing me what seemed to be a medal.

It was medium sized, golden and amost heavy looking now as I slowly reached in and took it within my hands. It was in mint condition, having me look at it in shock. The ribbon was floating in the air attached to the golden material within my grasps.

"Maz told me she had something that belonged to Dad," I explained to my mother, "But this is a-"

"Medal," I whirled my head at her now, seeing her look at the object within my hands now with fondness and almost melanchony. She reached out, touching it with her fingers and it felt like I was watching her heart break there next to me, "It was given to your farther years ago when he helped destroy the Death Star, along with your Uncle Luke and Chewie."

I looked back at the medal, having me wondeirng if I could have some kind of sense of what my father was feeling when he got this. Was he young and reckless like me? Full of adventure and life? I traced the patterns on the medal as well, another round of sadness was within me and it made me miss my father even more now. But nothing was more heart wrenching then what my mother told me next.

"I gave it to him, back when we first met."

Maz knew this was important to my father and now it was going to be important to me. I had to protect this, not only for the sake of remembering my father but remembering what we were fighting for. He got a medal for doing something what he thought was right, and it made me wonder if he really wanted this medal. From how upkepted it was, I could tell he did.

I placed it back within the possesion fo Q3, looking down at my droid and giving it a stern look.

"You guard this with yoru life, understand me?" I asked, Q3 beeping in agreement. It felt like my own droid even understood what was going on and how much it meant to me. Suddenly, Poe woke up in a jolt and shot up from his spot. I released his hand since he was so close to pulling me off from my seat.

"Poe?" Jancon asked from his spot, looking concerned. Poe sat up completely, looking out the window across from us and seemed like he was about to panic. Shooting up and off from his carrier, he rushed over to the window on the other side.

"No no no!" he gasped out, seeing the cruiser there through the window. He sighed in defeat, resting his hand on the window and hanging his head. He didn't know the whole plan, that much was enough to have me sit there and not know what to do.

"Poe," my mother called out. Poe finally looking back at the both of us. My mother motioned him over, having me watch him carefully now as he crossed the way and stood in right in the middle of the both of us, seeing the planet there where we were heading. When he was close enough, he grabbed my hand and held it tightly, and I wasn't going to let him do anytime soon.

"What is that?" He asked in shocked.

"The mineral planet, Crait," D'Arcy explained to him nearby, "An uncharted hideout from the days of the Rebellion."

"That's a rebel base?" Poe asked her.

"Abandoned, but heavily armored. Enough power to get a distress signal to our allies scattered in the outer rim," D'Arcy answered him.

"Holdo knew the First Order was tracking our big ship. They weren't monitoring for little transports," My mother explained to him now as he slowly sat down near me, mostly in front of me and still holding my hand.

"So we can slip down to the surface, unnoticed, and hide until the First Order passes," Poe thought out loud, planning it in his head. He looked at Leia intensely now, "That could work."

My mother nodded her head with her smile back on her face, another good sign, "She was more interested in protecting the light then she was seeming like a hero," I could tell Poe was thinking about what she said, then slowly looked over at me now, it made me give him a warm and small grin.

"We're gonna be okay," he reminded me, having me nod my head in agreement.

"I know," I replied, "I know we will." My mother got up from her spot to give Poe and I some space, I could tell that's what she was doing. Poe looked back out at the Cruiser as we were getting farther away from the massive ship. He sighed in defeat.

"I wish I should have known…" He said almost in a mourning tone, beating himself up over not knowing the full plan. I stroked his hand with my thumb across the top of his skin.

"You did what you thought was right," I reminded him, seeing him still shake his head, "Your intentions were good….and the delivery was a bit…off," He looked back at me from hearing the sad attempt at a joke that I tried to give him. I eyed him, seeing him finally give me a small smile on his face. He took his spare hand and cradled my neck and jawline with it, stroking my skin there and I leaned against it slightly.

"I know what I asked of you, back there when I did that to Holdo…that wasn't fair of me," he explained, having me shake my head slowly.

"Technically you didn't ask me to help you in a mutiny. I chose to on my own," I reminded, keeping it light when I knew he wanted to be serious about it. He scooted a bit closer to me now as I kept going, "It's like I said back there, I go where you go, no matter what."

He sighed, pulling me into his arms and hugging me there for a brief moment. I just help him, thinking this is what he needed in the moment. I felt him press a kiss into my hair and I clutched his jacket tightly in my fingers.

"I love you," He said against my hair, having me grin against his hold on me now. It didn't sound desperate, nor did it sound passive. It sounded more sincere, full of assurance and an abundance of goodness laced in his tone, "More than anything I do."

"I love you too, Poe," I reminded him, "I always have and always will. We're gonna get through this, one way or another, okay?" I had to be the strong one in that moment since Poe was feeling more defeated than he would have in the past. Hope was still on the horizon for us, though it was hard to see it. I had to believe in hope, even in times of loss and uncertainty. I had to believe it in. Pulling away from me, Poe gave me a reassuring look as we both gazed at the cruiser, wondering what will become of us next.

What will become of the Resistance?


	8. Chapter 8

The cabin shook, making me clutch onto Poe once we were separated and I looked around at what was happening. A flash of light that was mixed with orange and yellow, like fire, soared in the black space.

"They're firing us!" Jancon explained in fear as I got up from my spot next to him and looked out the windows. It was true, the main first Order ship was overshooting the cruiser and aiming for us now, already taking out one of our transporters and then targeting another one.

"We need to get to the planet. Now!" I said over my shoulder to my mother and Poe. Poe got up as well, heading over to the front of the transporter. I rushed over as well, making my way through the people inside the cabin and feeling the transporter going a bit faster now since another one a bit farther away from us was blasted out of the sky. Great, we were being picked off one by one.

"Come on, give it full trusters! Full speed!" Poe commanded the pilot who was in charge of our transporter.

"I am, sir!" The pilot replied, having me feel one of the blasters from the First Order. It made me cringe that they were so close to hitting us and we were just chugging along. I had to think of something to d and something quick before we would lose our heads. I quickly looked at another transporter being hit.

It made me snap.

"Make sure you tell the others to high tail it to the surface, and follow my lead," I instructed the pilot as I sat down in the seat next to her, hitting the few buttons that would bring the control over to me now. The others in the area were looking at me in shock now since I was taking over the driving on the transporter. I looked at the pilot now, who was giving me a questioning look, "What? Do it!"

She nodded quickly, grabbing the console buttons herself and channeling into the others.

"Follow the lead of Commander Solo in Transporter 8." She instructed, Poe, rushing over to me now and kneeling down to be at my level where I was gunning the transporter and steering it to the left, away from a straight course.

"What are you doing?" he asked me in concern.

"If you're asking me that question," I paused, looking at him dead in the eye,"Then you don't know me and what I can do." He watched me now as I drove the transporter over to the left some more, getting some more distance and. He sighed a bit, looking behind me and I didn't know where, or at whom, but I was keeping my eyes forward and on our prize.

"You can't fly this thing!" he tried to argue with me now as he looked back at me with determination in his eyes, but I shook my head.

"This is just like an X-Wing," I reminded him, "But…bigger."

"A hell lot bigger and with no missiles," He added in a low tone, "This isn't what you've flown before."

"And it won't be the last," I added, moving around again and seeing the other ships were following me

"General?" He asked, already playing the General card. Did he assume that she would stop me since she was my mother or that she was the General? I stayed on, not moving once and slowing down now as another blaster went off near us. Veering to the right, I made sure the others were following me and staying close.

"She's your Commander," My mother reminded Poe, having me smirk as I hit a button for the thrusters,

"You bet your ass I am," I said in confidence now as the transporter jolted for the booster. Poe clutched the seat I was in, holding on for dear life as we were still shooting through the stars and not slowing down. The planet was right in front us, right at the tips of my fingers and I'll be damned if we don't make it. It could feel the swelling energy of The Force coming through me and having me push harder and harder. It didn't feel like all of it was from me, I was getting a feed of it from something else, or someone else.

"She's running away," Connix said in a gasp from my left near one of the windows. Within a second I looked, seeing both Connix and Poe were looking at the Cruiser now, seeing that it was turning it's course and heading in a different direction.

"No she isn't," Poe said in a low tone, having me freeze a bit now with my hands still on the wheel and not being able to see what is going on.

"Poe, what's happening?" I asked him, still taking our transporter over to the planet.

"Admiral Holdo's moving the Cruiser," Poe explained to me from his spot behind me. I cringed, not knowing what was happening and not being able to see.

"Where is she moving it?" I asked, hearing nobody and getting no reply. It was getting me frustrated, almost having the transporter shake a bit now and I was feeling a bit more anger come over me slightly.

"Someone talk to me!" I asked in almost a begging tone, Poe finally placing his hand on my shoulder, squeezing it gently. It wasn't a reassuring squeeze like he would do in the past, this one felt more like a warning, and that was scaring me.

"Neyli, she's pointing the cruiser at the star destroyer….and is about to hit light speed," I gasped, still not being able to tear my eyes from the planet in front of me. I had to keep going, but my own heart was slowly going down to my feet from what was about to happen. Holdo, ever being the last remaining person on that cruiser, was trying to protect us at all costs and give us some time and some opportunity. I only wished that I would change the past, all the negative things I felt against her. Another part of me wanted to stop and call out for somebody, anybody, to at least make her stop and save her.

"Don't look, Neyli," Poe instructed me as I was clutching the controls in a death grip, Finally, after mere moments, I saw a blinding light hit all around us in the transport. I almost made me cringe from all the blindness that came through and enraptured all of us. I knew what happened though, and I was glad I didn't see it at all, still taking us to our destination. A piece of the Resistance, a huge one at that, left us and was long gone. It felt like a blow, and yet she did it without hesitation and without a resisted thought.

She was part of the Resistance after all.

* * *

After we landed, I finally gout of the transporter and looked at our new base. It was all old, beyond old and rusted over, and yet it housed us all and had enough power behind us t at least keep us safe. The terrain in front of the base itself was made salt, a rocky surface and it felt so isolated. The perfect setting for our showdown.

I walked over to the massive opening of the base, seeing the brightness of the open plain in front of us. I breathed in the oxygen, filling my lungs with air and a hint of minerals from the materials My hair picked up in the wind, and my lightsaber tapped against my leg there. I looked at where everything could end for us, and we were smaller now. Smaller in numbers, and yet with still that same enough of heart.

Holdo showed me that.

"They're coming in range," I heard behind me, hearing some of the pilots talking to each other of was an upcoming assault from the First Order. I was focusing on what was in front of me, seeing all of the open space and some of the trenches that were carved in the ground below. My mother walked over to me, staying close to me as we both were watching and counting down to when it would all begin.

"Everyone is at their stations," my mother instructed to me now, having me nod my head.

"Good," I replied smoothly, having my eyes scan back and forth now as my mother finally looked over at me.

"I want you to know, that if something does happen to me, you need to get the rest of the officers and find another place to lay low," My mother instructed me, having me look over to her now and see how she was still reading the land in front of me as well. I shook my head.

"Mom, you can't talk like that," I reminded her.

"The Resistance cannot go on without the officers and leaders," She argued, but I faced her now and I felt my hair whip up from the wind.

"That's where you're wrong," I explained, seeing her finally look at me, "It doesn't matter or come down to the leaders or officers. You taught me that, that it doesn't matter the person or where they rank. The Resistance is about the heart, what we feel and what we believe because of that," She drank that in, I could see it on her face now as I heard people rushing around us. I wanted her to know that all wasn't lost if she was going to be lost.

"The Resistance will live on, even if it's down to the last bunch of pilots, we will still survive," I promised her, seeing her breath out slowly and a sound far off in the distance came over us. We both looked, the small intimate moment that we both had with each other was long gone as we could see something far off coming our way in the distance and coming in fast.

One First Order ship and two TIE fighters behind it.

"They're coming. Shut the door," My mother said into her communicator, the doors above us starting to slowly go down and get us blocked in. Both my mother and I slowly walked away from the opening, side by side with the planet creatures coming for their own safety as well. They were sly like, made of crystals and were friendly to us once we landed. They rushed in, almost knowing themselves that a fight was about to begin.

The familiar cry of two TIE fighters rang high in the air, and yet the smaller First Order ship was way ahead of them and heading right towards us. I looked back at the ship, rushing to us at an alarming state.

"Incoming!" The TIE fighters were shooting but it didn't seem like they were trying to purposefully hit us. I bolted, the smaller ship in the front of the three of them was now about to slam into our doors, and yet it dipped. Blasters from the TIE fighter were hitting the mineral floor and bouncing off of them, even going into our base and hitting the walls and floor.

"Get down!" I yelled at the others as they were shambling to get farther in and away from the assault. The smaller ship was gunning faster, getting lower and almost hitting the ground by the time I reached Poe and we were getting people out of the way.

"Go, go move!" Poe said to the men now, "Get that shield door down!" We were running now, thinking that we were going to hit then as the first ship slid on the floor. It glided under the doors, though the top fell off from hitting the doors themselves and it slid right into the base. People were diving out of the way with the sparking flying and the TIE fighters pulling out just in time. Poe grabbed me around my waist to yank me farther away from the ship as it was slowing down and coming to a stop. Resistance fighters were already charging their blasters and guns, firing at the ship to get any kind of assault in before whoever was inside would come out.

Once I found my footing again, Poe released me and grabbed his own blaster. I grabbed my own lightsaber, the both of us going in front of the ship that was now frozen there on the ground. I started I got out my saber, ready for anything that would come out. I then noticed my mother next to me with a bigger gun in her hands and taking shots herself.

Two sets of hands shot up, an obvious sign of surrender. Yet we heard voices crying out from within.

"No, no don't shoot please!"

"Don't shoot, it's us!"

"Hold your fire!" Poe called out to all of us, having us all stop them but keep our guns aimed right where the hands were. The hands came down, nothing was heard for a moment or so now as we waited for two people to come up from the inside of the ship. Finally, two familiar faces popped up.

Finn and Rose.

"Finn?" My mother called out. I retracted my saber now in relief.

"Finn! Rose, you're not dead!" Poe said with a sigh of relief, "Where's my droid?!"

BB-8, right on queue, popped right out from underneath the ship and rolled over to Poe. I was glad to see that familiar droid again, let alone see a small brightness back on Poe as he embraced his droid on his knees.

"Oh, buddy! I'm so glad to see you!" Poe said with glee now as he hugged the doors close. Q2 behind me chirping in excitement from seeing his old friend and was itching to go and greet him. I tapped him once, silently telling him to wait his turn.

"What….wait wait…slow down" Poe said to his droid as BB-8 was trying to tell hi what happened to them. I looked from Poe over to Finn and Rose, the both of them were wreaking First Order uniforms and looking beyond exhausted.

"Is this all that's left?" Rose asked almost a bit quiet now as she looked at Finn in worry. Finn too didn't seem convinced or confident in this. I clutched the handle of my lightsaber, then finally looking at the doors that were sheltering us from the First Order.

It was mere moments now before it would all end in flames.

* * *

We got the command center up and ready to go, turning on old monitors and consoles that seemed ancient now. I help get some of the communications online. My mother sat down on her own, watching the whole thing unfold in front of her as we were getting ready.

"Alright shields are up so they can't hit us from orbit," Poe explained as he was next to D'Arcy. I looked at Connix and Finn on the otherside of the control room.

"Use whatever power we have left to broadcast a signal to the outer rim," I instructed Connix, my mother speaking up from her spot.

"Use my personal code: If there are any allies to the Resistance, it's now or never." She explained to Connix, sounding just like her old self again. It gave me warmth to see that in my mother. Poe nodded in agreement before he moved his eyes over to Rose who was going through a weapon's inspection to see all that we have left to use.

"Rose, what do you got?" He asked with hope.

"Busted ammunitions, rusted artillery, and half gutted skim speeders," She answered

"Well, let's just pray that big ass door will hold long enough for us to get help," Poe said, mostly to himself but for the others that were listening in. The place shook, all of us stopping and looking up as some dust fell from the ceiling. The creatures shook and whimpered in fear that something big was heard on the other side of the door.

"What is that?" I asked almost in a whisper, looking over at Poe now with big eyes.

* * *

"A battering ram cannon," Finn informed us as he was looking through our scope that showed us the outside area.

"A what now?" Poe asked as Finn looked at the group of us while we were eating for him to tell us what he saw.

"A miniaturized death star tech. It will crack that door open like an egg," Finn explained, Rose then looking at me now.

"There has to be a backway out of here, right?" She asked me. I didn't know what to say at first, my first instinct was to shake my head since I didn't know anything about this place. But then BB-8 chirped behind me, all of us looking to see the droid roll over to us with C-3PO and Q2 on his tail.

"BB-8, what do ya got?" Poe asked him now. BB-8 chirped at him, almost rapidly now

"BB-8 has analyzed the live schematics. This is the only way in…or out," C-3PO explained as he was motioning to the massive door, not one saying a word as another round of noise was heard on the outside. I felt a bit more sorrow coming through me since there wasn't even a hint of some place for us to go from here that would make me feel safe. The others in the room were looking up at the ceiling as the noise was heard, having me stay close to Poe and touch his jacket a bit with my fingers. He reached over to take my hand now, holding it close to his own side. This felt like they were closing in, almost suffocating us. Maybe that's what they were doing on the outside.

They were suffocating us from the inside out.

"Come on," Finn said to us, Poe and I turned around to face him, "We have allies. People believe in Leia, they'll get our message, they'll come. But we have to buy time." He still had hope in him, and that alone was enough for me to have the same amount of hope and faith as well. I've done enough for one lifetime to not rely on hope or faith. I couldn't stop then, and I didn't want to.

"You're right, Finn," I said in agreement, the others including Poe were looking in my direction, "We're gonna buy them as much time as we need. We can do this," I felt like I was preaching to everyone, seeing some of them shift a bit and others nod their heads. Jancon even smiled a bit now with his blaster in his hand. If there was going to be someone who was going to bring us back to the start, it might as well be me.

"We've gotta take out that cannon," Finn added, having me think to myself for how we can do that.

"Yes, we do."

* * *

"You sure you wanna do this?" Poe asked me as we were standing in front of my skim speeder. As soon as we got a plan together, I knew we need some expert pilots to help with the assault in the skim speeders. Of course, I was the first to volunteer to lead the charge. And of course,Poe had some concerns about it.

"Why wouldn't I? If I can fly a transporter, then I can fly this with no ease," I reminded him, seeing him look at the short vehicle top to bottom now with a hint of restrictions. I finally looked over at Poe, seeing that look that he would give me every once in awhile when I was about to go on a big mission away from him, or vice versa. But this one could be the last one, the very last one that we could ever live to tell the tale.

"Something tells me that we're gonna have a big fight on our hands," Poe said between the both of us, it was low and quiet since we were alone in the room.

"Nothing we can't handle," I reassured him, seeing him nod in agreement now since I was still trying to be optimistic. He then hesitated, reaching underneath his shirt against his care chest. There was something around his neck: a thick chain that I didn't see before. He took it off from around his neck, holding it in his hands and hiding something that was within it.

"I've been wanting to give you this," He explained, "But…given the circumstances that we're in with the First Order and all,"

"Such a mood killer," I added, seeing him give me a small smile on how I was making this light. he unfolded his fingers, showing what was hanging there on the thick chain. I froze, not knowing what to do or how to react since the object shined a bit there in the low dimmed light of the room.

A ring.

"It was my mother's ring," He explained to me, staying perfectly still now as he cleared his throat,"It was the last thing I got from her before she died. I wanted to….I meant to…"

"Poe," I wanted to start before he stood close to me, having me lose my breath.

"I was saving it for the person I wanted to be with, forever," I bit my lower lip now, trying got make myself not cry in front of him. It felt too much, making my heart and skin want to burst and twinge. He placed the chain and the necklace in my hand, almost making me feel that weight on my fingers. I didn't know how to react to it at first, it was not the place for something like this to happen. I pictured it, not just with Poe but with anyone that was going to come by way, in a more romantic situation and place. And yet, this also fitted perfectly.

I threw the chain around my neck smoothly and without hesitance, then pulling Poe in for a loving kiss. He was frozen from how I kiss him out of the blue, his mother's ring around my neck and hanging off my chest. It felt like I was getting more of his energy now. He kissed me back, which made me frame his face within my hands and hold him there carefully. I felt every emotion pressed into that kiss I gave him, and I wanted it that way.

Once I pulled away, I looked at him dead in the eye.

"I promise you, Poe Dameron, that we are going to survive this," I voiced to him, seeing him scan my eyes, "And we both are going to find a place where we can live, have a family, and grow old together. And don't think I'm just saying this because we're so close to being at war. I'm telling you his because I'm in love with you, and I will always love you,"

He smiled at me, still a bit shaken by what I told him and how I kissed him. He took one last breath.

"Does that mean you're gonna marry me then?" He asked, having me grin at him. Once again, if it was a different time and at a different place, it would be surreal. But this, right now in that small area, somewhere on one distant mineral planet and at the brink of war, it was perfect.

"Without a doubt."


	9. Chapter 9

Planet D'Qar

Age: 19

"I have a proposition for you," My mother explained to me as we were walking along the long strip of the X-Wings that were not being used. I kept up with my mother, not knowing what she had up her sleeve now as she was walking through the crowd in stride. Others were moving out for the way for her like they were parting the sea, seeing her go by without a blink in her own eye. I felt my mechanic belt bouncing in each step with the tools tapping against my thigh. I was only barely getting my hands dirty with being part of the Resistance.

"Am I going to like this proposition or no?" I asked her as I was close enough in seeing the look on her face. She was serious, which was never good in my case.

"You are," She replied, making me raise my eyebrows in surprise.

"Well, that's a bit reassuring I guess," I mumbled a bit, mostly for myself to hear but then again she heard me too. I heard her snort now as we were making our way to the very end of the strip that housed our X-Wings.

"Your father would kill me for doing this without him here," she informed me, now making me smirk in intrigued.

"Let me get this straight: you're gonna do something with me….without dad….and he might go ballistic?" I questioned her, finally seeing her stop in right in front of an X-Wing that was off on its own and standing still against one of the vine walls that came over the hills. It was a bit rusty, in need of plenty of work and a tune up for sure from what I could see next to my mother, and even a good paint job would be enough to give this thing a good fly in the sky. She stood still, watching the X-Wing, and it got me confused. Why were we in front of it? I looked back at her one more time, seeing a small look on her face and it made me look at the vehicle. Of course, it would make em click within a few moments.

She was….

"You're giving me this X-Wing?" I asked her, almost raising my voice now from the here shock and excitement now. I was containing so much to not jump up and down and squeal for the rest of the Resistance pilots nearby to hear. My mother whirled around at me now, facing me with a pointed finger and a stern look.

"You are going to take care of this X-Wing, fix-it-up, maintain it, and fly it like it's any more pilot's X-Wing here on the base," She reminded me, having me nod my head in agreement since it seemed only fair that I would take care of it. But still, she was giving me my own X-Wing. It made me give her an amazing look, trying to find the right words to say in that moment.

"Why are you giving me this?" I really wanted to know, since it felt like this could be either some kind of nasty joke or trick or something else far bigger than I could imagine or comprehend. My mother, of course, just grinned and tapped my hand with her own hand.

"You have done a great amount for me all these past three years, going with the flow and not complaining. I know it's been a rough few years, this family has been through far too much to last a lifetime," I felt a twinge of what she was saying since three years has been both far too long and not enough time. Three years since we lost my brother, and I took on a life that I never thought I would while leaving another life that I wanted behind.

"You sacrificed your life of training to be a Jedi, like your Uncle Luke, to help us in the Resistance," She went on, having me feel as though she was either giving me a bit hint of praise, or some kind of guilt trip, "It was far too much for me to ask you to do any of those things.

"Mom," I said to her, wanting her to stop all of this kind of talk she as getting herself into,"It's fine. I'm glad I did what I did,"She could see that I was telling the truth. It was one thing to feel that pain that I had when I lost Ben, but my mother was going through another kind of pain. She lost her son, and I was the last child she had. Plus, going through my father going off on his own adventures and leave my mother and I behind. He was coping, not in the best way since it was rubbing off on my mother, but copping none the less. She needed more positivity, and I only hoped that I could help out in any way I could.

"This is far too much," I reminded her.

"Well you've said you always wanted to fly and be a pilot, I blame your father for that one," She mentored to me, having me smirk at her, "SO, might as well let your fly this thing. We've been needing more pilots anywho,"

Something shifted for the both of us, making me lean over and give her a small hug. We had a bit of privacy there since no one was around. She hugged me back, making me grin since it was rare for us to have these kind of moments together. I missed it so, and I hoped that this would be some kind of step forward in a new life and new direction.

* * *

Present Day

Planet Crait

The speed roared to life as I was hitting the engine up and running. In front of me was the large door, and outside of it: the vast openness of the planet and clearing that would have the First Order on the other end. Not to mention, with the cockpit being only on one side of the wing, I knew it was going to be a challenge. But I was determined, as always, to do my part in the fight.

I clicked a few button and shifted a bit in my seat, trying to clear my own head. It was a mantra: I've flown before, I've flown before. And yet, this wasn't just any other mission: this was something that was far bigger than me. A handful of rebels, at the mercy and hands of the First Order, and one in particular who I was still feeling an intense connection with. I only hoped that it wouldn't come down to it.

"Ground forces: incoming," I heard in my headpiece now as I gripped the steering wheel and breathed out one more time.

"Copy that! On our way!" Poe replied in the headpiece. I hit the booster, the speed lurching forward and out fo the smaller room. The doors were thrown open, the menace ray of light hitting me in the face as I zoomed high in the open air, the engine humming as we were slowly lowering down to the ground and to the surface. I blinked, getting familiar with the brightness and how it bounced off the white ground, seeing the First Order far enough away and yet too close to my liking.

Other speeders were there, at least a dozen now as they too were slowing coming down to graze over the top of the planet. The grounds crew were in their trenches, already arms and ready along with some of the towers with their guns. I felt the ground neither me now, hitting one more toggle to have the bottom balance out since most of the weight was on my side. The speeder finally balanced out, and I breathed a sigh of relief now as the others were in a line, making our way to the First Order.

"Alright, listen up. I don't like these rust buckets, and I don't like our odds," Poe said in our headpieces from his own speeder, "Just, keep it tight, don't get drawn in too close until they bring that cannon out front,"

I looked over to my left, seeing Jancon with his intense look in his eye as he was flying out with the rest of us. I looked to my right, Finn staring dead ahead and I looked as well. I remember all the times I was about to head into a mission, how the adrenaline was mostly taking over and not the concentration. This was the same thing: I had to remind myself to think, to not take any chances that could kill us in the end.

"Alright, ground forces lay down some fire!" Poe commanded in the headpiece. I could see the blasts from the ground forces far behind us zooming past us and trying to hit the First Order AT-AT's They were blasting back at us, our spiders moving around them and avoiding them at all costs. They were still slowly coming through, and one more First Order ship was howling above them right in the middle, watching like a hawk. That tug was there again.

I knew who was in there.

Suddenly, the familiar cry of TIE Fighters was hoarding coming over the top of the AT-AT's like a wave, dozens of them and they were scoping down and aiming right at me. I cinched, hitting a few more toggles before I spoke into the headpiece.

"Fighters! We need to split!" I commanded, the others heard it and they too broke the formation. I swerved to the left, making a curve as the TIE fighters started to fire at us, trying to pick us off one by one. The only weapons we had were those guns on the speeders, but they were meant only for the cannon. We were just to try keep them occupied and busy while they were getting the cannon out and ready.

Already we lost at least three of the speeders to the TIE fighters, and it felt like they were plucking us out of a barrel one by one. I was hoping and praying that I wouldn't be next, not to mention anyone else now as I could see at least two or three TiE fighters were gnawing up on one speeder. It was not looking good as I maneuvered through the red dust and tried to keep my own speeder active and moving around.

"Neyli you have one your tail!" Jancon warned me, having me panic a small bit. I didn't want to be the

"I know, he's not letting me go," I replied back in the headpiece. That tension was going up the back of my neck now since it felt like I was being watched. I only wished that I had something that could take down that TIE fighter right behind me, and now that panic was slowly coming up and over me. I could feel it in my throat, almost feeling it at the tip fo my fingers.

A shadow flew over me, having me look up in awe and in pure shock. The Millennium Falcon.

"Rey!" I said in excitement as she took out at least two TIE fighters that were about to hit Rose in her speeder, the vessel then springing up and moving through the sky to shoot out more. It felt good to see that vessel once more, having me almost believe that my father, one way or another, was up there helping us out in his beloved ship.

Another TIE fighter was down as we were still moving along the surface, finally having me see that the TIE fighters were finally leaving us alone and going after my father's old vessel.

"She drew them off! All of them!" Poe said with glee.

"Oooh, they hate that ship!" Finn said in agreement, having me laugh now as we were finally going back to our main task at hand.

"Give the hell, Rey!" I said, mostly to myself but the others could hear it too. I wanted her to show them no mercy, to give them a taste of the Resistance and all that we stood for. We could still feel some blasters from the ground force behind us trying to get rid of the AT AT's but that was the last of our problems.

"There it is!" Rose said, making me look and watch that was rather large and intimidating cannon was coming right up to the middle and was being flanked by the AT AT's. The one ship was still hovering almost protectively, yet all of our focus was on the cannon.

"That is a big gun," Rose said with a gasp.

"Okay, it's heavily armored. The only shot is right down the throat," Finn explained to us on his headpiece. We zoom, only seeing that the AT AT's were aiming at us now and once again, we were getting picked off one by one. I panicked, seeing Jancon was still on my left and it made me worry that he was going to be next.

"Jancon, stay on my tail. Do not leave me," I warned him. The last thing I needed was to lose my best friend out here on some forsaken planet.

"Not going anywhere, Neyli." he replied in a huffed avoiding the shots that were waited for him. Three more of our speeders were gone, making this a less confident task that we had at hand now.

"They're picking us all off, we're not gonna make it," Poe said in a bitter tone in his headpiece.

"Alright, making my final approach," Finn informed us, "I have it in sight: guns are hot."

"No, pull out!" Poe commanded him, having me shoot a look to the speeder Poe was in. he was trying to save us and not make another drastic and reckless choice. He leaned his lesson back on the cruiser, and now he was trying not to make the same mistake again.

"What?" Finn asked in shock.

"The cannon is charged, it's a suicide run!" Poe explained to him now, his voice was deep and commanding," All grounds, pull away."

"No, I'm almost there!" Finn explained.

"Retreat, Finn! That's an order." Poe ordered him, having me sigh in frustration. I knew that since we were far too close that it wouldn't be right to get away, and yet they were getting us one by one. We had to make it out there and keep the ones that we still had, not to make another move that would risk us all. The rest of the speeders were breaking off, listening to Poe, but the one that didn't continued in making its way down the middle in front of the cannon.

Finn.

"Finn, it's too late, don't do this!" Rose warned him as she too was having back a bit to see what he was going to do.

"No, I won't let them win!" He yelled in the headpiece. I hesitated too, not knowing what to do now since I wanted Finn out of there. I was torn, moving back around but farther away to watch Finn go closer and closer to the First Order.

"No, Finn! Listen to Poe, we have to retreat!" Rose pleaded. Now I knew I had to stay. A tug within em was pleading me to stay, to protect Finn if he needed it. I didn't care if I was going against the order's of another Commander, let alone my fiancé. My instinct was telling me to protect, to not let this happen to him. Finn came from the First Order, and this was personal to him.

"Neyli, we need to go!" Jancon instructed me. I didn't want to have another argument over the headpieces.

"I'm making sure Finn's okay," I answered, "Go back."

"I'm not leaving you!" Jancon warned me, "What is Poe gonna—"

"Go back with the others and make sure they're safe, I'm ordering you Jancon," I ordered him, hearing nothing at first and then a grunt.

"Don't die on me, Solo," He instructed me, "You're not allowed to die."

"No kidding," I grumbled. But then I heard Poe's voice in my ear. Finn was getting close now, right down the middle of that beam and I could tell he was struggling to get closer and closer now, "Finn….Finn…"

"Neyli, get back here now!" Poe said in my earpiece as something else was heard in my ear. Someone else was talking, yet it wasn't in the earpiece. It was that soothing voice that I heard in the past in the cruiser. It made me freeze, still out there in the open and I couldn't move from the voice the I was hearing in my head.

 _Neyli…I'm coming to you Neyli…_

"Neyli!" Poe roared in the headpiece, having me snap back to reality now as a blaster from an AT-AT finally hit the side of my speeder. I felt the shake of the impact, my whole body shaking and smelling against the side of the speeder. It was hard, my head hitting the side so hard that I could feel blood come out and shake my brain. My lungs were bursting to get air, my vision was getting blurry and my shoulder was throbbing and in intense pain.

"She's hit! Neyli's hit!" Poe said in a panic as my cockpit was getting covered in both sparks and smoke. I squinted, feeling the hard pain that was coming over my whole body. I knew one thing: I couldn't fly my speeder anymore, and if I stayed out here any longer, I would probably get hit one more time and die. The one arm that I would move was free from the harness since the other was injured badly and still pressed against the seat. 33

"I'm going back to get her out of there," Poe said as I looked up at the glass that was almost smashed in. It was blocking me from getting out, and i reached up with my bloody hand to try and break the window open. It was hard for me since my hand was a bit busted up from the impact. I tried a few more time, but it was stuck and not opening with just my hand.

"No, you need to stay inside and help! I'm going out to get her! Stay with the General!" Jancon argued with him as I threw the headpiece around my neck now and tried a different tactic to get out. I threw up my hadn't, reaching for the window and using as much energy as I could now to push the window open. My Force ability was fluttering a bit now, trying to gain more energy back from my impact.

"Come on…" I grunted out, trying to get the window to move. It felt I was shaken from the inside out, not my normal shift when it comes to the practices that I used to do. I wanted to get out, to not be here and let this be the way that I would die. It would not only shake my mother but Poe and the others.

Poe…not Poe. I wasn't going to leave him here alone.

"Come on!" I said in a roar now as I finally felt that wave of energy comment through me, it shook me to my core at the top of the window that was blocking me from an escape finally pops out, flying high in the air now. It soared so hard and so far that I watched it hit another TIE fighter that flew over and that was about to hit me. The TiE fighter was bursting into flames, flying down to flame into the ground. I sighed in relief, almost a bit shocked that I did that on my own now as another speeder was coming over my way now.

"Something happened to Finn and Rose! I don't see them!" I heard around my neck in the headpiece. A speeder came to the halt and I could hear feet rushing over to me now. I blinked one more time, finally looking up to see Jancon looking down at me with worry written all over his face. I grinned, feeling my busted lip split open now as I did the gesture.

"Hey there," I replied in a huff, Jancon giving me a knowing look that I was definitely in trouble. I sighed, looking down at the blood on my hands.

"If you die, Poe will kill me. You know that?" He asked me in a serious tone. I paused, thinking about it for a moment or two now as I finally breathed out slowly.

"I'll try not to."

* * *

"Bring her over here," I was being half carried over to one of the areas behind the wall one more now as Jancon brought me back within a few mere seconds to get out of more trouble. I sighed in relief as Jancon made me sit on one of the cargo boxes, the stinging of my shoulder was getting worse now and it felt like a dull knife.

"Here ya go," Jancon said to me as he framed my head gently, looking at any injuries on my head with a hint of worry on my face, "I'll go get a medic to look at that for you."

"Neyli! What the hell!" Jancon moved out of the way now just in time for Poe to rush over to me now, running in a frantic manner and having the look of horror on his face when he saw my image. I was hunched over a bit, holding my injured shoulder with bloody fingers and hands, and yet I was still having a small smile on my face. Without him thinking about it, he engulfed me in his arms. I gasped from the harsh impact there and I grunted in pain.

"I thought I lost you again," He said in a mummer against me now as I felt more pain on my shoulder.

"I'm fine, trust me," I replied, another twinge of pain from how he was holding me almost in a protective manner.

"Umm. Poe. You're crushing her shoulder and I think she'll pass out soon," Jancon advised him, Poe hearing him and pulling away to see me himself.

"I'm sorry," He said in a rushed tone. I looked like a mess: a cut on the head, a busted shoulder, fat lower lip and bloody hands. He still like he was the one in pain, seeing the red all over me now. I felt bad that he thought he almost lost me once more. It was almost the same thing back when we took out the Star Killer Base when I lost my own father.

"What were you thinking?" He asked me now, the others around us were giving us space and Jancon were ushering them away so we could have a moment, "You could have been killed."

"Yeah well I wanted sure Finn was going to make it," I replied to him in a gruff, then pausing now in worry since I didn't see what happened to Finn or Rose. Were they okay? Were they alive?

"Where's Finn?" I asked in a panic, Poe scooting a bit closer to frame my face and avoid any damaged parts, "Where's Rose?"

"They're safe," He replied carefully, moving the hair from my face, "Finn disobeyed orders and was about to hit the cannon when Rose stopped him. They're both back here now," I sighed, leaning against Poe now with a sigh of relief and reassurance. I wanted to feel better about the situation, but I just couldn't, knowing that we were still at the mercy of The First Order and so close to being wiped out of the galaxy. I then felt Poe freeze against me, something made him stop feeling warm or secure. I looked up at him now, seeing his eyes were on something else.

"Poe?" I asked him, seeing him look at the hallway now. I looked too, seeing someone whom I haven't seen in years. He had his cloak over his head, smoothly walking over to the control room where the rest of the Resistance was. But I utter out two words that were on my lips for quite some time.

"Uncle Luke?"


	10. Chapter 10

"Is that who I thought it was?" Poe asked me, still in shock himself as we saw the fire walk past our view. I was still wrapping my head around what I saw, and it almost felt like an out of body experience. I never thought I would see Uncle Luke again, not in a thousand years and yet he was walking through our last place to hide.

It stunned me, having me finally get up from my spot, Poe still holding me in case I was going to fall. I didn't care that I was still bleeding from my shoulder and head, nor did I care that I almost died mere moments ago. But all I could focus on was that my Uncle Luke was here.

Where was he going?

"Hang on," Poe said to me as I was making my way to look down the hallway, seeing him still walk smoothly and I felt like I needed to call out to him, to say something to have him stop and at least let me see his face. But he kept walking, still making his way to the control room. At first, I wonder why he was going in that direction, but then I remembered.

My mother.

"Come on, at least let me help you get over there," Poe encouraged me, wrapping one arm around my waist and having half of my weight. I didn't want to argue with him since I was continuously feeling out of it from the injuries, so I agreed as we both were taking it a bit slow down the hallway, "That was your Uncle, wasn't it?"

"I think so," I answered, getting my footing again now as I was breathing through my nose, "I haven't seen him since I was 16."

"I never met him," Poe replied against me, "I think it was the cloak that made me think it was him."

"Well, cloaks are pretty essential for being a Jedi, among other things," I explained to him, seeing him look at me now.

"There's more to it?" He asked, intrigued and I grinned at him with another hint of pain on my lip.

"For one, Jedi's live solitary lives really, at least they did back in the day according to my Uncle Luke. They can't hurt someone if they don't have a weapon to defend themselves, Jedi masters can't have more then one padawan, or student, at a time to mentor and teach..….and they're not supposed to have a romantic or close bonded relationship or attachment." I explained, seeing Poe give me a shocked look now. I eyed him, seeing one eyebrow raised back at him now, "What?"

"You can't….be with someone? Ever?" He asked me, having em slowly nod my head.

"It's mostly frowned upon. Some Jedi's in the past thought it would stray a Jed from being a true Jedi, and we can't give into emotions since it would hinder our life as a Jedi," I explained some more, seeing him think about it more to himself and I had the both of us stop now. I rested one of my bloodies hands on his chest, seeing him watch me now as I gave him a knowing look.

"If things were different, and things didn't happen the way they did, I would be a Jedi and this," I paused, pointing in between the both of us, "Could never happen."

"I kind of figured," He replied, a bit short for me. Yet I kept us still there in that dim hallway, not bothering to move us until I said my peace.

"But what I have now," I reminded him, feeling him on instinct curl his fingers around my waist, "Is something I would not take back." I knew things would have been different if certain events didn't happen. If Ben had the light in him and he didn't turn on Uncle Luke, if he didn't destroy the Jedi Temple, then I would have been a Jedi with him. We could have done all that we wanted to do since we wished we could be one like our Uncle.

And yet…I wouldn't have been where I was now.

I wouldn't have become a pilot, flying an X-Wing among the stars and other galaxies. I would never have met my best friend Jancon and developed a great friendship with him. I would never have gained so much bravery and courage under my skin that it was electrifying.

Most of all, I never would have met Poe Dameron.

"I'm glad that I never became a Jedi," I reminded him, seeing him slowly smile at me, "If I did, then there would have been us." I felt a flutter under my skin from say that to him. It was mushy, the both of us were fatigued from plenty of fighting against the First Order, covered in both sweat and blood, and yet it felt like such a long time ago when we were just friends and getting over our feelings to the other. The fleeting glances at each other from across the room, words of encouragement after a mission, and even just the smallest of hugs.

"I'm glad too," He replied calmly, having me grin at him and see him crinkle his nose up a bit in amusement, "And even though I was scared that you nearly died on me…"

"Again," I added, hearing him chuckle.

"The look you have going right now….this whole," he motioned to my whole body with his open hand, "Rugged pilot-type…I like it."

"Stop," I wanted him playfully, giggling as he shrugged.

"What I'm just saying. It's kind of sexy," He reassured, making me roll my eyes, "Other people won't like it too much, but I don't mind it at all really."

"You zip it," I said to him, seeing him grin widely. It was bizarre that we were having this kind of moment now in the middle of a hanger. Anywhere else would have been appropriate, but even now it felt perfect. We both felt perfect.

"Come on," I finally said to him, the both of us walking slowly over to the opening of the control room. I loved having that moment with Poe, but my Uncle Luke was back to being on the brain and main line of focus. It took us another few moments, but we finally made it through the opening and I felt myself stopping with Poe looking at me in concern.

"What is it?" He asked me, thinking I had an injury we didn't know about. I motioned with my head, seeing my Uncle Luke and my mother talking to each other. Luke was knelt down, very close and talking to her intensely now as they were communication mere whispers and hushed tones. It felt like we were interrupting them, having me wish that we were giving them some space.

"It's been a long time since I've seen him is all," I admitted to Poe under my breath without me disturbing their conversation. Poe and I looked one not speaking anymore as they spoke together and I could barely hear them.

"Leia, I'm sorry," Luke apologized.

"I know. I know you are. I'm just glad you're here in the end," My mother replied back

"I came to face him, Leia. But I can't save him." My Uncle explained, looking sorrowful

"I held on to hope for so long but, I know my son's gone," My mother said with remorse. I cinched a bit, hearing that alone from my mother was sad and bitter enough.

"No one's never really gone," Uncle Luke reminded her, then he slowly looked over at me, Within that moment, I felt both a sense of fear and a sense of peace. Just seeing him look at me once more was making some of the physical pain I was enduring less painful. Slowly I moved away from Poe, seeing him stay behind as I walked slowly over to my Uncle with a small hop in my step from my injuries.

"Uncle Luke," I said to him, watching him look at me with his blue eyes that reminded me of the sea.

"Neyli," He replied back to me, hearing my name on his lips made me give him a small smile, "I felt your presence for some time."

"I was hoping to see you again," I said to him in a light tone, watching his face falter a bit since it felt like a thought disrupted his mind. He folded his hands in front of himself now, watching me carefully as I eyed him back.

"I want you to know that I'm sorry," He explained, making me look at him in confusion, "For what I did to you, making you believe that Ben was dead—" I stopped him, placing my hand on top of his in front of his body. He saved me, though it was a trick of the mind when he did it, he saved me none the less.

"It's like you said, Uncle, Luke, he's not really gone. But what you did was enough for me," I reminded him, seeing him watch me with a glint in his eye. A small smile was on his lips. The way he stared at me wasn't in a way of shock from my injuries, of pain from not seeing me in years, but in kindness and love from an Uncle to his Niece.

"You are very much like your father, Neyli," he reminded me, having me almost feel a tear in my own eye now, "I'm proud of what you became, with all the light in you. Never let it leave you, ever."

"Yes, Master Luke," I answered.

"I'm not your Master, remember?"

"You'll always be my Master," I reminded him, seeing him watch me carefully as I said it with such lightness in my tone. He squeezed my hand that was holding his and gave me a stern look.

"I need you to protect your mother, at all costs," He explained, having me look at him now in confusion, "Go where she goes, and do as she says."

"What's going on?" I asked him, not watching him look out at the damaged doors that were blasted open from the cannons I looked too, not getting what was about to happen for a moment or two before it clicked in my head. I shook my head.

"No, no you can't do this," I said to him almost in a pleading tone,"Don't go out there to him. He'll murder you on the spot!"

"Neyli," He said my name in a venomous voice, getting my attention and silencing me. He looked at me dead in the eye, which scared the hell out of me. I only save that look a handful of time, and up tunnel this point I never got it myself. It was a determined, scary and deadly look.

"Understand me?" He asked once again, his voice calmed down once more. I slowly nodded, a tear leaving my eye now as he wrapped it away with such gracefulness and left one kiss on my cheek. Then he was moving swiftly and with no hesitation. He walked past C-3PO, giving him one wink before the dries replied, "Master Luke" back to him. I watched as he was walking towards the light, towards the First Order and towards what could be his death.

Others were watching as well, Poe walking over to stand next to me now as I was felt more fear coming through me from what I was seeing and could be witnessing for the last time. The fire from the explosion on the door was roaring high and fast, yet my Uncle Luke was still walking through and not stopping, not turning back to us.

He was facing Ben.

"What is he doing?" Poe asked me as he joined me, not understanding what was going on since he didn't hear me talk to my Uncle.

"He's going out there to talk to stop Ben," I replied, feeling a bitterness coming over me now since I couldn't stop what was about to happen, Finn walked over too, not wearing Poe's old jacket anymore but the white shirt. He too looked confused now, and since Uncle luck was no longer seen visibly, I was still itching to see what was happening and if my Uncle was going to be okay. I looked around, seeing a pair of scopes that were all themselves. I rushed over, getting the copes in my hand and walking over to the front where I could zoom in on what I was seeing.

Uncle Luke was by himself out in the open, the one ship looming over the AT AT's. I zoomed in a bit closer and watched as one of the AT AT's was aiming his guns at Luke. I threw the scopes down, about to panic.

"Take cover!" I yelled, the others around me were moving out of the way now as I was moving over to Poe. He grabbed my arm just in time to pull me away from the opening and the sounds of blasters were engulfing the area. It felt like it was coming into the hideout, it shook the whole area and made things jump from each blast, we even had to cover our heads since we felt the roof was going to cave him from the impact.

After a full minute of a rapid fighter, it all suddenly stopped and we froze, thinking that we were hit and dead. I felt the rubble and dust from the roof all over my clothes and hair now, making me look up. nothing moved from the roof, nothing was cracked or broken. I checked my body, nothing new was broken or injured. Poe and the others were doing the same, and yet I wondered if Uncle Luke was okay since he was the one who was shot.

I had to look.

"Neyli, hold on!" Poe said to me as I moved away from him and back out in the open and over to the lightness. I had to look and see what was left of Uncle Luke, that feeling of guilt of not stopping him before he was going to go to his death. But once I got the scope in the right part, I saw something miraculous and almost too good to be true.

My Uncle Luke, alive.

"He's alive," I said with a sigh of relief, taking the scopes down now from my eyes and Poe rushing over to look through them himself. He looked too, having me feel a sudden wave of peace icing over me from seeing him there, standing in front of the AT AT's without a scratch on him. How did he do that? How was that possible?

The ship lowered now, landing on the ground in front of Uncle Luke yet there was space. Poe stood still with the scopes still over his eyes, finally taking them down slowly and watching where I was watching.

"It's Kylo Ren. Luke's facing him alone," Poe explained, Finn walking up in a hurry.

"Poe, we should help him. Let's go," Finn said determined, but I shoved my arm out to stop him.

"Wait, wait," I said to him, both Poe and Finn watched me now as I was saying this. I knew a huge part of me wanted to run out there and stop my Uncle from going to his death at the hands of Kylo Ren. I also wanted to go out there and stop Kylo, still feeling that a part of me wanted to save him and to reign him back from where he was. I was too optimistic, living on hope. Kind of like my mother I guess.

"He's doing this for a reason," Poe said next to me, having me stop and think about what he was saying and what could it mean. Why was my Uncle doing this now, right before everything was going to come to an end? It had to be on purpose, and then it clicked. I grasped Poe's arm to get his attention but I kept my eyes out in the open.

"He's stalling so we can escape," I explained, almost a bit mournfully now since it all was making sense and it was bittersweet in my chest. He was going to let us leave, give us time to run and survive.

"Escape? He's one man against an army. We have to help him, we have to fight!" Finn argued with me, yet Poe spoke up.

"No, no. We are the spark that will light the fire that will burn the First Order down," Poe proclaimed, looking dead ahead and having me see once again the look of a Commander, and someone who just wanted this all to end once and for all.

He looked at Finn now, yet I was looking dead ahead and hoping that it would not be the case.

"Skywalker's doing this so that we survive," Poe explained to Finn now before he turned to the rest of the Resistance behind him, "There's gotta be a way out of this now. Hell, how did he get in here?" I kept my eyes on the light, wondering what was going to become of my Uncle next. Finn stayed next to me, looking at me with worry now as I heard C-3PO talk to Poe.

"Sir, it is possible that a natural mapped opening exists. But this facility is such a maze of unless tunes, that the odds are finding it is actually 15, 428."

"Hush, hush…shut up!" Poe finally said to the droid, everyone looking at him now and I did the same. Poe was up to something there, "Everybody, listen."

No one moved, not a sound was heard. It spooked me good there.

"Oh, my audio senses no longer detect—" C-3PO started.

"Exactly, Poe cut him off again, walking through the crowd and towards the back. I walked over too, kind of getting an inkling as to what he was thinking. Finn joined me, and the three of us stood at the end of the crowd into the large open hanger, once again hearing a single around.

"Where's the crystal critters go?" Finn finally asked. I then noticed something out of the corner of my eye, something glimmer in the back at one of the hallways that were leading further into the hideout. It was one of those creatures, alone there and making a whimpering sound, finally running and running further into the tunnel.

"Come on," Poe said to us as he started walking ahead. he stopped to look at the rest of the group, who were all staring back at Leia to see what she was going to say. She looked confused, pointing at Poe.

"What are you looking at me for? Follow him." She replied, the other reluctantly following Poe now. I sighed looking back at the light of the opening one more time. This could be the last time I would see my Uncle again, and knowing that he was giving us time to run and be safe, I had to take it. I couldn't stand here and wait for something else to happen, I had to listen to his orders that he gave me before he went out there. My heart, broken and fragile at this point knowing that I won't be my uncle again, reluctantly turned on my heel and walked with the others and Finn next to me now.

Goodbye, Uncle Luke


	11. Chapter 11

**Author's Note:** This is the last chapter, so bear with me!

Text = Neyli

 _Text_ = Kylo Ren

* * *

Every step I was taking away from Uncle Luke, it was feeling harder and harder within my chest. It didn't feel right when were we walking further into the tunnels that would hopefully lead us out and into safety. I would only hope that we would be safe and sound, which was different from how my Luke was handling himself at the moment. I wanted to stay with him, at least give him some kind of support as he was facing my twin brother or a part of my twin brother, alone out there.

It killed me.

I was moving a bit slowly now, Jancon staying next to me and helping me through some of the paths and passages that were taking us deeper and deeper. Poe was leading the way of course, following the creatures and keeping up with them as the others were doing the same as well,

"Take it slow, Neyli," He reminded as we were going down a small slope together. The pain was bearable, enough for me to breath normally now since it was something I was now used to. And yet we didn't have time to stitch me up and get be looked at, time was no ton our side at the moment.

"I'm trying to," I reminded him, hearing him chuckle.

"I tend to forget how edgy you get when you're wounded and someone helps you." He said in amusement.

"Not a great time to point that out to me, but you're right," I said in agreement, seeing the natural light behind us getting dimmer and the shows engulfing us. It made me look back at the light one more, seeing how it was so small compared to how it was when we first started walking in this direction.

"He know's what he's doing, right?" Jancon asked me, having me look back at him and see him watch me in worry. I knew he was mentioning Luke, and I slowly nodded since it was still a bit sad to think about my Uncle and my brother.

"He knows," I replied simply, grimacing a small bit, "It's bizarre and insane, but he knows. Doing drastic stuff like this is kind of part of our family,"

"Like staying out on a speeder and almost dying from being shot at?" Jancon asked in a dry tone. I laugh half-heartedly.

"You are hilarious," I noted to him, seeing a small smirk on his face as we continued to walk. Yet the further we walked, the confidence that we once had was slowly dying among the group. We were weaving deeper and deeper into the area, only going along the hopes of the creatures knowing where we could escape. I was getting more in my step now, no longer wanting to be someone that was going to be lagging behind, and Jancon felt it too. We both were picking up speed and making our way through the crowd out in front to where Finn and Poe were.

We went down one more slope, having me almost slide for a moment now before Poe was almost sprinting in a run since he was chained the last creature. And yet, after a few more moments at the bottom of the slope, we all saw what we were feared we were going to see.

A dead end.

"No.. no no!" Poe said in defeat now as he rushed to the front of the dead end. It was a vast pile of rocks that piled up in a clear way out, almost looking like a hill in itself now and impossible for us to move all of them in time. There were too many now, and I could see on the others faces that they were thinking the same thing. I felt that pain, but I knew the person that was feeling it the most was Poe. He was almost visibly shaking now as he was looking all over the at the rocks.

I walked over to him, still recovering a bit myself as I placed my hand on his shoulder. He looked over at me, giving me a look of pure pain and defeat now.

"I lead us to this," He muttered looking back at the pile now and having me feel his shoulders sag in defeat, "I killed us all."

"Poe," I said to him grasping his shoulder now as he was beating himself up over and over now, "Don't say that Poe." I scooted closer to him now, wanting to at least give him some sense of comfort now as he was feeling far from himself like he would when an obstacle would be in his way. I rested my head against his shoulder, staying close to him now and clutching his hand tight in my own hand that was caked in dry blood. I looked at me at my mother, seeing her watch the both of us and say nothing. She seemed calm, and yet something on her wrist was beeping frantically.

The beacon. The beacon that leads to Rey,

"Mom?" I asked her, seeing him slowly looking down at her wrist now and I stood all the way up, still stating in contact with Poe. That beacon was beeping frantically, which meant that Rey was very close. Real close now and that's when I heard it. The rocks behind us, they were shifting and moving around now. At least it sounded like it.

I looked back in front of me, my eyes getting big now as the rocks were moving away from us, through the hole that was apparently hiding on the other side. They were moving with ease, sliding gracefully now as if it was sucked out. Poe and I stayed still, Poe almost pushing me back slightly in case I was going to get hurt again. The rocks were moving more and more, and none of us were moving since it felt like we were dreaming.

That or something else spectacular.

Finally, with the last rock moving out of the way just in time, I finally found my own footing to move and to make my way over to the new path that was showing the outside world again. My own feet were moving without me thinking about it, it made me want to find what caused this, what caused us to have another glimmer of hope.

"Neyli!" Poe called out, but I kept waking now and I didn't look back. It sounded like no one else was following me but I didn't care. I was feeling a pull toward whatever it was that saved us after all. Finally, within a few strides, I came out into the light and I saw the most amazing thing.

It was a smaller area, covered in grey and off-white materials and cliffs around me. The salt floor was underneath me yet again, but it looked like I came out of a hole in the mountain itself, and the rocks that I saw before were floating high above me. They were floating like stars, hovering high enough for me not to hit my head now with one sole person standing in the middle of it all with one outstretched hand.

Rey.

She was looking at me now with wide eyes. it was making me relieved tht it was her, I could feel it in the energy she was having and using to hold up the rocks with The Force. The Force-sensitive part was enough for me to know that she had a pull to the Force. Why did I see it before? It's been far too long, the last time I physically saw her was back on the Death Star and we were trying to escape, where the both of us saw my father die at the hands of my brother.

"Neyli?" She asked me, sounding shocked to see me again. I couldn't help but smile, seeing the innocence on her face, and yet she's changed since I saw her last. It felt like she's aged emotionally, going through some kind of trial of some sort.

Possibly because of Uncle Luke. I remember then, she was with him.

The rocks started to shake a bit, something in her was wearing slightly and I could tell she was about to panic since she was holding all fo them up. I rose my hand too, keeping the rocks afloat with her and given some of the tension over to myself. She looked at me in shock now as I did this, realizing herself that I had the pull as well.

"You're a Jedi?" She asked me, having me hear that before some time ago with Finn when we were going to the death Star to retrieve Rey and stop the first Order. I merely stood still, keeping a warm face on her now as we were still keeping a distance from each other.

"I used to be," I replied, hearing footsteps behind us now and I looked over my shoulder to see. Poe, Finn and the others were rushing over now, seeing the spectacle we were making. They too were amazed, and Finn immediately locked his eyes to Rey now. It felt like he was seeing the sun for the first time again, pure relief and joy in seeing his friend that he was searching for the whole time. Rey pushed some of the rocks aside, my own pull was keeping the rocks still high up as Finn was making his way over to his friend.

Finally, Rey and I lowered the rocks carefully as Rey finally embraced Finn. I smiled from seeing the both of them hug each other, not caring about the others around them as they were coming out of the cave. It reminded me of Poe, looking back at him as he walked over to me and hug me close both in relief and in satisfaction that was was still hope for us living. I hugged him back, feeling his warmth there as I finally heard Rey behind us.

"I think you need to take it easy for now on," Poe reminded me in my ear.

"Not a chance," I replied back, hearing a chuckle from his lips.

"The Millennium Falcon's this way! Follow me!" She said to the group, Poe and pulling away from each other and watch as Rey was leading the group up a small path that was carved into the hill on the other side of the small clearing. We started the climb, leaving the hanger behind us and making our way towards our freedom and another chance at life. The air was cooler here since we were in the shade, but it was cool enough for me to have more a pep in my step as we were ascending the path.

Once we made it high enough, I saw my father's old ship. It gave my own heart a sudden thud and jolt, thinking that my father wasn't inside and coming out to greet us with his big grin and his hands on his hips. I wondered if he would, that his death was all a trick in the mind that I had to endure before. I wished it was, I really wished it was.

And yet, the reality was still in power.

The ramp lowered, having the rest of the Resistance pile onto the ramp, Rey helping them on. I was about to go since I was at the end of the group with Poe, but I had to stop. An odd push within my chest was pushing against my chest so hard like something was trying to crush beneath my breath. I breathed out shakily. Poe, holding my hand, kept going but stopped when he felt me not coming with him. He looked at me in concern now. My face was saying it all, and yet I couldn't say a word from the push against my own chest.

"What is it?" he asked me, having me shake my head and close my eyes for a brief moment. Something was wrong, shifting against my own judgment and my own sense of The Force. I didn't think it would be my brother since that wouldn't be likely, but this felt like someone was no longer living. A huge source of energy was no longer in existence, and I was feeling it. Someone was gone, someone, I knew and was very close to.

Uncle Luke. He was gone.

I fell to the floor, Poe grabbing me by arms to not have me drop completely as I was having the intense sensation of loss within myself. I couldn't feel his presence anymore, not like it was before when I was thinking about him and a brief flicker of his energy was there. No, it wasn't there anymore and it was long cold. Poe looked beyond concerned now as I was just trying my best not to scream out from what I was feeling within myself.

It made me look over at Rey, seeing almost the same look on her face as she clutched the ramp pillar. Then I looked at my mother, seeing that she was feeling too. The Force Sensitives there in the are, all three of us, we were feeling that loss that hung in the air. I clutched my chest for a second, feeling my shirt there and then breathed out one last shaky breath. Poe clutched my spare hand, having me come back to the reality that we were in.

"Sweetheart, you're scaring me right now," Poe explained to me in almost a scared tone, having me look at his eyes. How could I explain it to him? It would already feel bad enough that I wasn't able to tell him or have him feel what I was feeling. I finally stood up, Poe within a second wrap an arm around me to hope me back on my two feet.

"Let's get inside," I said to him finally, thinking that now was not a good time for this.

"Neyli, what's going on—" Poe was pushing it to see if he could help, but I shook my head then.

"We need to leave. Now," I replied to him, seeing his face now and he knew that I wasn't going to budge. He nodded his head finally and we both made our way onto the ramp, but it made me look back at my other one more time. She gave me a look too, we both had the same feeling and we both were trying to just be able to not show it.

We both were suffering.

* * *

I watched from my own area in one end of the sitting area within the Millennium Falcon as members go the Resistance were talking to each other of the recent events. I was looked at by one the medics, getting stitched up on the shoulder and a gauze over my eye on my head, yet feeling okay compared to before. Sitting in the small booth, I saw my mother reuniting with Chewbacca, which was a warm sight to see a familiar face again. I couldn't help but grin then as I saw even Rey squat down to talk to BB-8, the droid chirping rapidly at her now as she was analyzing his antenna.

"Yeah, it looks good," She replied to him now, Poe walking over to her with intrigue in his eyes. I saw her stand up to look at him, a small smile on her lips too.

"I'm Poe," He said to her, holding out his hand for her to shake. She shook it with a smirk on her face.

"I'm Rey," She replied.

"I know," He added, having me grin widely at him in how he already knew so much about her and yet he was meeting her for the first time. It then looked past her at me now, seeing the look on my own face now as I was watched all of this unfold while we were flying away. I wanted to be happy, and yet I was still feeling both drained from the injuries and empty from the loss of my Uncle. It was weighing me down, having me rethink over and over what I said to Uncle Luke in hopes that he wouldn't go and face my brother alone.

I should have stopped him, at least have some sense of stopping him and making him be safe. The guilt was within me slowly simmering and threatening to bubble over me and consume me. It was one thing that I was taught: emotions were meant to be minimal when you that what has to be will happen.

But it was too much.

"Hey," I looked up, seeing Poe standing in front of me and looking down from where I was sitting. I leaned my head against the panel behind me, giving him a smaller smile. he finally reached over, placing a gentle hand and touch on my arm there since he knew that I was weighed down by something. I almost curled into his touch, it was the one soothing thing in this whole mess that I was going through and I only wished that it was a cure-all for me.

"Come with me," He urged gently, his voice was low and yet smooth now as I eyed him for a brief moment. Finally, I got up from the booth, Poe immodestly lacing our fingers together and he was leading me through the crowd of Resistance survivors. I even briefly saw my mother and Rey taking together now in a hushed tone, having their own intimate moment about what they felt with my Uncle too. I looked ahead now, following Poe as he was leading us through one of the hallways that were taking us to a more secluded part of the ship.

He finally got us in one of the sleeping cabins, a cot that was built into the wall with a monitor and intercom. It was clean, almost having a sense that someone who used to live in this area was no longer there. I looked around the cabin now as Poe closed the door, having me stand in the middle of the room and hold my own arms around my middle. He said nothing for a moment, having me think that he was just watching me and how I was holding myself together within that moment since we were alone.

"I felt him, Poe," I finally voiced out, my own tone was barely above a whisper and yet it was raw against my throat, "I felt….I felt him leave."

Poe walked over to stand in front of me now, seeing how I was just trying to breathe and not break down. I blinked a few times, shifting from one foot to another just for the sake of moving and not standing still for far too long.

"I don't know why I felt him…" I trailed off, not wanting to rant again in front of him since the last time I did back on the cruiser it felt like I was crazy. He gave me a knowing look, almost sympathetic and sincere.

"Because he was your family," He reminded me, having me look in worry and in uncertainty, "Look, I may not have the Force like you do or Leia, or even Rey for that matter. But I do know it's a powerful thing, and it can change you whether you're ready for it or not," I slowly looking down, seeing the necklace around my neck and how it was hanging so low and so heavy against me. It felt a bit much, first losing my father and my Uncle now, both at the hands of my brother and how he was so tempted to just wipe out the Jedi's from all existence.

"I don't know what to do now," I admitted to him, seeing him watch me with his own hint of sadness, "I mean, I was fine for all of those years without my Uncle guiding me and showing me the way. But now….now I'm lost." Being lost, not having a constant guidance there to help me and feeling like my own whole spectrum was tilted to one side was having me panic a bit. To be was Jedi almost meant you had to be constant and know what you're doing, where you're going and how you were going to get through your life. However, now I felt like I was walking in a haze with one hand out and nothing else holding me and taking me along.

"You have a family in the Resistance," Poe reminded me in certainty, "The Resistance is a family that sticks together, and you're part of it no matter what. With your mother, Jancon, Finn and Rey, and me." I saw the pain on his face when he shifted, scooting a bit closer as he farmed my face with one hand and his other was on my hip, "I haven't been there for you when I should, especially when I was acting reckless back on the cruiser. I should have known better, and I am so sorry for not seeing past my own nose to see what was wrong with you."

I shook my head, pulling him into my arms to not have to say another thing that would himself down. I felt him wrap both arms around me, the same way he would hug me when we were having a few moments alone and just wanting some kind of constant contact.

"You are still a constant for me." I explained to him confidently, "The one constant thing for me in this whole thing. I don't think I would have been the same person without you there for me." I pulled away to look at him in the eyes, seeing him search my own eyes with his to see if I was right about what I said. Sometimes I knew he needed his own words of encouragement and someone to support him as well, and since I lost my father, he was keeping an arm's length close and making sure that I was able to sleep at night, eat some food from time to time. There were times when I didn't see it, how Poe was looking out for me.

I couldn't lose him just yet.

"If something is going to happen with me and my mother….because of Ben…" I started, seeing him shake my head now as he once again framed my face. He knew where I was going with this conversation, or he thought he knew where it was going.

"Don't say this to me," He warned, but I clutched his jacket tighter to get his attention.

"Listen, Poe. Please," I pleaded, seeing him go quiet and watch me as I took one more breath before I stared at him dead in the eyes. What I was going to say to him was both scary and intimidating at the same time.

"What I'm going ask you is going to make you mad, or judgmental of me I guess. But I'm going on a limb here: if something does happen to me…or even my mother because of my brother…I want you to keep living your life the way you should." I know what I was saying might have sounded desperate, let alone too mushy or emotional for such a moment we were having. But I had to think about a possible future that I would have to face my brother and maybe face death. I had to think of the future, the protection of those I loved and those I cared for. With my father gone and my Uncle gone, it felt like I couldn't lose anyone else around me.

Poe didn't answer me, he just leaned in a give me the most sincere kiss that he ever gave me. It made me close my eyes immediately and hold that kiss as long as I could. It reminded me of our first kiss under the Force Tree outside his childhood home, how it felt like I was flying and soaring amongst the stars. I didn't want this talk with him, but I didn't expect this kind of reaction from him. He held the kiss, barely moving away from me before he watched me with his eyes and stay so close that I breathed in his breath.

"Where you go, I go," He reminded me, having me hear the shakiness in his tone now as he was speaking, "I made that promise from the moment I kissed you so long ago, and I don't intend of breaking it anytime soon." I smiled at him, not wanting to push the subject anymore since we both were on the page. We weren't going to leave the other, and it would take some kind of natural disaster to tear the both of us from the other. It would do, for now.

It would do.

* * *

I woke up, still in the arms of Poe as we both were sleeping on in the cabin. Poe was pressed against the wall, his arm around me and was sleeping soundly with a blanket over the both of us while we were down to our shirts and pants. After we talked, we both knew we needed the rest, not wanting to push ourselves anymore that day. The cabin was quiet, a small sound of the wind from the air vent coming through the air and my father's old medal was resting against a small surface tabel near Poe and I. Q3, although shut off, was resting against the wall near us.

Something made me wake up, having me feel as though I was getting another connection from somewhere else out there. It was same as I felt it with my Uncle when he was alive, but it was a darker pull, a little more raw instead of soothing.

 _Neyli…..I feel it's you….Neyli_

Ben. He was talking to me.

I shifted slightly, not wanting to wake Poe now as I was still feeling that tug beneath my skin and in my stomach now as the voice as heard again, a deeper voice that I haven't heard before that sounded both intense and yet unsure at the same time. Did I know that voice? It's been years since I saw my brother last, and yet he was trying to speak to me again now as I breathed out one shaky breath.

 _He tried to keep you away from me. He told me you were dead._

I slowly moved Poe's arm from around me, still hearing and feeling him asleep now as I got out of the bed slowly, standing still in the room and channeling that voice in my head, as if he was in front of me.

Who am I talking to?

 _Who do you think?_

Not my brother. There was silence when I said this within my own thoughts, almost making me think I sent off a nerve. How odd was it that I was having a conversation in my own head and not being able to see my brother. I had so many things I wanted to see to him, so many questions and reasons to scream at him. And yet, now was not the time since I was still convinced this was a dream.

 _You're right. I'm not your brother._ It was a jab, I knew it was. And yet I stayed calm.

What do you want?

 _You know what I want. All of the Jedi dead._

Including me? Another pause having me wonder if he was thinking it over now as I was standing still in the small cabin, saying nothing with the dimmed lights and Poe still sleeping in the bed and unaware of what was going on.

 _If it has to be you dead, so be it._

This isn't the way. It's not the way of how we were trained.

 _The way we were trained was a lie. And I can show you if you'd like._

I know enough. I felt like I was in an argument with a voice in my head, but it was having me be more aggressive to him yet he wasn't there. He wasn't seeing what I saw in the world when it came to Te Force and balance within it. All he saw was pain and power, dominance and victory. it was not who I was.

 _It's very simple: you either join me….or you die._ He was giving me his compromise. But I looked myself in the mirror across the small cabin. I saw the reflection of my battered shoulder and face, how the lines were already showing on my skin and the worn years of flying for a Resistance that could die at any moment now. And yet, there was more to the scars, the sheer bravery, and hope that we could win this war after all. And even more, the reflection of Poe asleep soundly made me believe in more. Someone alive was there to look after me, not to push me down or mold My father was killed, my Uncle was gone, and all I could really rely on was hope. I could only think of a few words to tell my twin who was still alive in that body somewhere deep down.

You can try to. 

The End.

* * *

 **AUTHOR'S NOTE:** That's all! Thanks for the review and support! We'll see whaat happens in the last Star Wars movie in the next installment and the fate of Neyli and Poe!


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